The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the World War, by
Francis A. March and Richard J. Beamish
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Title: History of the World War
An Authentic Narrative of the World's Greatest War
Author: Francis A. March and Richard J. Beamish
Release Date: August 6, 2006 [EBook #18993]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ***
Produced by Don Kostuch
[Transcriber's Notes]
My father's part in WWI attracted me to this book. I recall him talking
briefly about fighting the Bolsheviki in Archangel. "The machine gun
bullets trimmed the leaves off the trees, as if it were fall." Like most
veterans, he had little else to say.
This book mentions his campaign on page 736; "August 3, 1918.--President
Wilson announces new policy regarding Russia and agrees to cooperate
with Great Britain, France and Japan in sending forces to Murmansk,
Archangel and Vladivostok."
My father's experience seems to be described in the following excerpt
from the University of Michigan "The University Record", April 5, 1999.
"Bentley showcases items from World War I 'Polar Bears'"; by Joanne
Nesbit.
"During the summer of 1918, the U.S. Army's 85th Division, made up
primarily of men from Michigan and Wisconsin, completed training at Fort
Custer in Battle Creek, Mich., and proceeded to England. The 5,000
troops of the division's 339th Infantry and support units realized that
they were not being sent to France to join the great battles on the
Western Front when they were issued Russian weapons and equipment and
lectured on life in the Arctic regions.
"When they reached their destination in early September, 600 miles north
of Moscow, the men of the 339th joined an international force commanded
by the British that had been sent to northern Russia for purposes that
were never made clear. The Americans were soon spread in small fighting
units across hundreds of miles of the Russian forest fighting the
Bolsheviks who had taken power in Petrograd and Moscow.
"The day of the Armistice (Nov. 11) when fighting ceased for other
American armies, the allied soldiers were fighting the Bolsheviks said
to be led by Trotsky himself. After three days, the allies finally were
able to drive off the Bolsheviks. While this fight was a victory for the
Americans, the battle led to the realization that the war was not over
for these men. As the weeks and months passed and more battles were
fought, the men began to wonder if they would ever get home.
"The men of the 339th generally were well equipped with winter clothing
during the winter of 1918-19 while stationed near the Arctic Circle,
where temperatures reached minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
"There was little daylight for months at a time. Knowing that the war was
over for other American soldiers, the morale of the troops declined
throughout the winter.
"Families and friends of the men began to clamor for their return.
Politicians unwilling to support an undeclared war against the Russian
government joined in their demand. A petition to Congress was
circulated. Several of the British and French units mutinied and refused
to continue fighting. In early April, the American troops learned that
they would be withdrawn as soon as the harbor at Archangel was cleared
of ice.
"It was not until June of 1919 that the men of the 339th sailed from
Russia and adopted the polar bear as their regimental symbol. After a
stop in New York, the troops went on to Detroit where they took part in
a gala July 4 homecoming parade at Belle Isle."
The converted text for several chapters is copied from Project
Gutenberg's eBook 16282, History of the World War, Vol. 3, prepared by
Juliet Sutherland, Jennifer Zickerman, and the Project Gutenberg Online
Distributed Proofreading Team. This edition has minor differences,
mostly additional passages and images.
When considering monetary values listed in the text, one United States
dollar in 1918 is equivalent to about thirteen dollars in 2006. One
United States dollar in 1918 is equivalent to about 5.6 French Francs in
1918; one Franc in 1918 is equivalent to about 2.3 dollars in 2006.
For additional insight into the pilots and air battles of the war read
"The Red Knight of Germany; The Story of Baron von Richthofen, Germany's
Great War Bird" by Floyd Gibbons. This book is copyright 1927 and will
not be freely available online until 2022.
In the PDf and Doc versions, the following pages contain additional maps
that may assist in understanding some of the references to locations in
the text. The first shows Western France. The second map contains many
of the locations of the European battles. They are adapted from
Putnam's Handy Volume Atlas of the World, published by G.P. Putnam's
Sons, New York and London, 1921.
The next two maps from the USMA, West Point, map collection, compare
Europe before and after World War I.
Finally, a full map of the European theater has much detail. It should
be scaled up to about 500% for detail viewing. It is derived from a
larger map from Rand, McNally & Company's Indexed Atlas of the World,
Copyright 1898.
[Illustration: Western France; Southern England]
[Illustration: Western Front Battle Zone--Eastern France; Southern
Belgium; Western Germany]
[Illustration: WWI Locales; Lens; Cinde; Mons; Douai; Valenciennes;
Cambri Landrecies; St. Quentin; Sedan; Argonne Forest; Noyon; Chauny;
Soissons; Rheims; Verdun; Metz; Chateau-Thierry; St. Mihiel; Paris;
Sezanne]
[Illustration: Europe Before World War I]
[Illustration: Europe After World War I]
[Illustration: Europe, 1898]
This is a glossary of unfamiliar (to me) terms and places.
Boche
Disparaging term for a German.
camion
Truck or bus. [French]
charnel
Repository for the dead.
colliers
Coal miner
congerie
Accumulation, aggregation, collection, gathering
consanguinities
Relationship by blood or common ancestor. Close affinity.
deadweight
Displacement of a ship at any loaded condition minus the lightship
weight (weight of the ship with no fuel, passengers, cargo). It
includes the crew, passengers, cargo, fuel, water, and stores.
debouch
March from a confined area into the open; to emerge
Gross Tonnage
Volume of all ship's enclosed spaces (from keel to funnel) measured to
the outside of the hull framing (1 ton / 100 cu.ft.).
inst.
The current month: your letter of the 15th instant.
invest
Surround with troops or ships; besiege.
irredenta
Region culturally or historically related to one nation, but subject
to a foreign government.
Junker
Member of the Prussian landed aristocracy, formerly associated with
political reaction and militarism.
Kiao-chau
German protectorate from 1898 to 1915, on the Yellow Sea coast of
China. It was on 200 square miles of the Shantung Peninsula around the
city of Tsingtao, leased to Germany for one hundred years by the
imperial Chinese government. In 1898 Tsingtao was an obscure fishing
village of 83,000 inhabitants. When Germany withdrew in 1915, Tsingtao
was an important trading port with a population of 275,000.
kine
Plural of cow.
kultur
German culture and civilization as idealized by the exponents of
German imperialism during the Hohenzollern and Nazi regimes.
lighterage
Transportation of goods on a lighter (large flatbottom barge used to
deliver or unload goods to or from a cargo ship or transport goods
over short distances.)
lyddite
An explosive consisting chiefly of picric acid, a poisonous, explosive
yellow crystalline solid, C6H2(NO2)3OH.
mitrailleuse
Machine gun.
morganatic
Marriage between a person of royal birth and a partner of lower rank,
where no titles or estates of the royal partner are to be shared by
the partner of inferior rank nor by any of the offspring.
nugatory
Of little or no importance; trifling; invalid.
pastils
Small medicated or flavored tablet; tablet containing aromatic
substances burned to fumigate or deodorize the air; pastel paste or
crayon.
poilus
French soldier, especially in World War I.
pourparler
Discussion preliminary to negotiation.
prorogue
Discontinue a session of parliament; postpone; defer.
punctilio
Fine point of etiquette; precise observance of formalities.
rinderpest
Contagious viral disease, chiefly of cattle, causing ulceration of the
alimentary tract and diarrhea.
Sublime Porte
[French. Porte: a gate] Ottoman court; government of the Turkish
empire; from the gate of the sultan's palace.
Tsing-tao (Qing-dao)
City in eastern China on the Yellow Sea, north-northwest of Shanghai.
The city was leased in 1898 to the Germans, who established a famous
brewery.
Uhlans
Horse cavalry of the Polish, German, Austrian, and Russian armies.
ukase
Order or decree; an edict; proclamation of a czar having the force of
law in imperial Russia.
verbund
[German] Interconnection.
Wipers
British soldiers' pronunciation of "Ypres".
Zemstvos
An elective council for the administration of a provincial district in
czarist Russia.
[End Transcriber's notes]
[Illustration: THE VICTORIOUS GENERALS; photographs]
General Foch, Commander-in-Chief of all Allied forces. General
Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the American armies. Field Marshal
Haig, head of the British armies. General d'Esperey (French) to whom
Bulgaria surrendered. General Diaz, Commander-in-Chief of the Italian
armies. General Marshall (British), head of the Mesopotamian
expedition. General Allenby (British), who redeemed Palestine from the
Turks.
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
An Authentic Narrative of The World's Greatest War
By FRANCIS A. MARCH, Ph.D.
In Collaboration with
RICHARD J. BEAMISH
Special War Correspondent
and Military Analyst
With an Introduction
By GENERAL PEYTON C. MARCH
Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Illustrated with Reproductions from
the Official Photographs of the United
States, British and French Governments
PUBLISHED FOR THE UNITED PUBLISHERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO
1919
COPYRIGHT, 1918
FRANCIS A. MARCH
This history is an original work and is fully protected by the copyright
laws, including the right of translation. All persons are warned against
reproducing the text in whole or in part without the permission of the
publishers.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF.
WASHINGTON,
NOVEMBER 14, 1918.
With the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the World War
has been practically brought to an end. The events of the past four
years have been of such magnitude that the various steps, the numberless
battles, and the growth of Allied power which led up to the final
victory are not clearly defined even in the minds of many military men.
A history of this great period which will state in an orderly fashion
this series of events will be of the greatest value to the future
students of the war, and to everyone of the present day who desires to
refer in exact terms to matters which led up to the final conclusion.
The war will be discussed and re-discussed from every angle and the
sooner such a compilation of facts is available, the more valuable it
will be. I understand that this History of the World War intends to put
at the disposal of all who are interested, such a compendium of facts of
the past period of over four years; and that the system employed in
safeguarding the accuracy of statements contained in it will produce a
document of great historical value without entering upon any speculative
conclusions as to cause and effect of the various phases of the war or
attempting to project into an historical document individual opinions.
With these ends in view, this History will be of the greatest value.
Signature [Payton C. March]
General,
Chief of Staff.
United States Army.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM
A Conflict that was Inevitable--The Flower of Manhood on the Fields of
France--Germany's Defiance to the World--Heroic Belgium--Four
Autocratic Nations against Twenty-four Committed to the Principles of
Liberty--America's Titanic Effort--Four Million Men Under Arms, Two
Million Overseas--France the Martyr Nation--The British Empire's
Tremendous Share in the Victory--A River of Blood Watering the Desert
of Autocracy
CHAPTER II. THE WORLD SUDDENLY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
The War Storm Breaks--Trade and Commerce Paralyzed--Homeward Rush of
Travelers--Harrowing Scenes as Ships Sail for America--Stock Markets
Closed--The Tide of Desolation Following in the Wake of War
CHAPTER III. WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR
The Balkan Ferment--Russia, the Dying Giant Among Autocracies--Turkey
the "Sick Man" of Europe--Scars Left by the Balkan War--Germany's
Determination to Seize a Place in the Sun.
CHAPTER IV. THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES
The Assassination at Sarajevo--The Slavic Ferment--Austria's
Domineering Note--The Plotters of Potsdam--The Mailed Fist of
Militarism Beneath the Velvet Glove of Diplomacy--Mobilization and
Declarations of War
CHAPTER V. THE GREAT WAR BEGINS
Germany Invades Belgium and Luxemburg--French Invade Alsace--England's
"Contemptible Little Army" Lands in France and Belgium--The Murderous
Gray-Green Tide--Heroic Retreat of the British from Mons--Belgium
Overrun--Northern France Invaded--Marshal Joffre Makes Ready to Strike
CHAPTER VI. THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM
Barbarities that Shocked Humanity--Planned as Part of the Teutonic
Policy of Schrecklichkeit--How the German and the Hun Became
Synonymous Terms--The Unmatchable Crimes of a War-Mad Army--A Record
of Infamy Written in Blood and Tears--Official Reports
CHAPTER VII. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE
Joffre's Masterly Plan--The Enemy Trapped Between Verdun and
Paris--Gallieni's "Army in Taxicabs"--Foch, the "Savior of
Civilization," Appears--His Mighty Thrust Routs the Army of
Hausen--Joffre Salutes Foch as "First Strategist in Europe"--Battle
that Won the Baton of a Marshal
CHAPTER VIII. JAPAN IN THE WAR
Tsing Tau Seized by the Mikado--German "Gibraltar" of the Far East
Surrendered After Short Siege--Japan's Aid to the Allies in Money,
Ships, Men and Nurses--German Propaganda in the Far East Fails
CHAPTER IX. CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST
Invasion of East Prussia--Von Hindenburg and Masurian Lakes--Battle of
Tannenberg--Augustovo--Russians Capture Lemberg--The Offer to Poland
CHAPTER X. STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY ON THE SEA
The British Blockade--German Raiders and Their Fate--Story of the
Emden's Remarkable Voyage--Appearance of the Submarine--British Naval
Victory off Helgoland--U-9 Sinks Three British Cruisers
CHAPTER XI. THE SUBLIME PORTE
Turkish Intrigues--The Holy War--Mesopotamia and Transcaucasia--The
Suez Canal--Turkey the Catspaw of Germany
CHAPTER XII. RESCUE OF THE STARVING
Famine in Belgium--Belgium Relief Commission Organized in
London--Herbert C. Hoover--American Aid--The Great Cardinal's Famous
Challenge
CHAPTER XIII. BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES
German and British Squadrons Grapple off the Chilean Coast--Germany
Wins the First Round--England Comes Back with Terrific Force--Graphic
Picture of the Destruction of the German Squadron off Falkland
Islands--English Coast Towns Bombarded for the First Time in Many
Years.
CHAPTER XIV. NEW METHODS AND HORRORS OF WARFARE
Tanks--Poison Gas--Flame Projectors--Airplane Bombs--Trench
Mortars--Machine Guns--Modern Uses of Airplanes for Liaison and
Attacks on Infantry--Radio--Rifle and Hand Grenades--A War of
Intensive Artillery Preparation--A Debacle of Insanities, Terrible
Wounds and Horrible Deaths.
CHAPTER XV. GERMAN PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA IN AMERICA
Trailing the German Plotters--Destruction of Ships--Pressure on
Congress--Attacks in Canada--Zimmerman's Foolish Effort to Embroil
America with Mexico and Japan--Lies of the Propagandists After America
Entered the War--Dumba, Von Bernstorff, Van Papen and Boy-Ed, a quartet
of Unscrupulous Destructionists
CHAPTER XVI. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA
The Submarine Murderers at Work--Germany's Blackband Warning--No
Chance for Life--The Ship Unarmed and Without Munitions--The
President's Note--Germany's Lying Denials--Coroner's Inquest Charges
Kaiser with Wilful Murder--"Remember the Lusitania" One of America's
Big Reasons for Declaring War
CHAPTER XVII. NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR IN BLOOD-SOAKED TRENCHES
War Amid Barbed-Wire Entanglements and the Desolation of No Man's
Land--Subterranean Tactics Continuing Over Four Years--Attacks that
Cost Thousands of Lives for Every Foot of Gain
CHAPTER XVIII. STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA
Botha and Smuts, Rocks of Loyalty Amid a Sea of Treachery--Civil War
that Ended with the Drowning of General Beyers and the Arrest of
General De Wet--Conquest of German Colonies--Trail of the Hun in the
Jungle
CHAPTER XIX. ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA
Her Great Decision--D'Annunzio, Poet and Patriot--Italia
Irredenta--German Indignation--The Campaigns on the Isonzo and in the
Tyrol
CHAPTER XX. GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI
A Titanic Enterprise--Its Objects--Disasters and Deeds of Deathless
Glory--The Heroic Anzacs--Bloody Dashes up Impregnable
Slopes--Silently they Stole Away--A Successful Failure
CHAPTER XXI. THE GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY
The Battle of Jutland--Every Factor on Sea and in Sky Favorable to the
Germans--Low Visibility a Great Factor--A Modern Sea Battle--Light
Cruisers Screening Battleship Squadron--Germans Run Away when British
Fleet Marshals Its Full Strength--Death of Lord Kitchener
CHAPTER XXII. THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN
The Advance on Cracow--Van Hindenburg Strikes at Warsaw--German
Barbarism--The War in Galicia--The Fall of Przemysl--Russia's
Ammunition Fails--The Russian Retreat--The Fall of Warsaw--Czernowitz
CHAPTER XXIII. HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED
Ferdinand of Bulgaria Insists Upon Joining Germany--Dramatic Scene in
the King's Palace--The Die is Cast--Bulgaria Succumbs to Seductions of
Potsdam Gang--Greece Mobilizes--French and British Troops at
Saloniki--Serbia Over-run--Roumania's Disastrous Venture in the Arena
of Mars
CHAPTER XXIV. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA
British Army Threatening Bagdad Besieged in Kut-el-Amara--After Heroic
Defense General Townshend Surrenders After 143 Days of Siege--New
British Expedition Recaptures Kut--Troops Push on up the Tigris--Fall
of Bagdad, the Magnificent
CHAPTER XXV. CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR
By COL. GEORGE G. NASMITH, C. M. G.
Enthusiastic Response to the Call to Action--Valcartier Camp a
Splendid Example of the Driving Power of Sir Sam Hughes--Thirty-three
Liners Cross the Atlantic with First Contingent of Men and
Equipment--Largest Convoy Ever Gathered Together--At the Front with
the Princess Pat's--Red Cross--Financial Aid--Half a Million Soldiers
Overseas--Mons, the Last Stronghold of the Enemy, Won by the Men from
Canada--A Record of Glory
CHAPTER XXVI. IMMORTAL VERDUN
Grave of the Military Reputations of Von Falkenhayn and the Crown
Prince--Hindenburg's Warning--Why the Germans Made the Disastrous
Attempt to Capture the Great Fortress--Heroic France Reveals Itself to
the World--"They Shall Not Pass"--Nivelle's Glorious Stand on Dead Man
Hill--Lord Northcliffe's Description--A Defense Unsurpassed in the
History of France
CHAPTER XXVII. MURDERS AND MARTYRS
The Case of Edith Cavell--Nurse Who Befriended the Helpless, Dies at
the Hands of the Germans--Captain Fryatt's Martyrdom--How Germany
Sowed the Seeds of Disaster
CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES
The Canadians in Action--Undismayed by the New Weapon of the
Enemy--Holding the Line Against Terrific Odds--Men from the Dominion
Fight Like Veterans
CHAPTER XXIX. ZEPPELIN RAIDS ON FRANCE AND ENGLAND
First Zeppelin Attack Kills Twenty-eight and Injures Forty-four--Part
of Germany's Policy of Frightfulness--Raids by German Airplanes on
Unfortified Towns--Killing of Non-Combatants--The British Lion
Awakes--Anti-Aircraft Precautions and Protections--Policy of Terrorism
Fails
CHAPTER XXX. RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA
Rasputin, the Mystic--The Cry for Bread--Rise of the Council of
Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates--Rioting in Petrograd--The
Threatening Cloud of Disaster--Moderate Policy of the Duma Fails--The
Fatal Easter Week of 1917--Abdication of the Czar--Last Tragic Moments
of the Autocrat of All the Russias--Grand Duke Issues Declaration
Ending Power of Romanovs in Russia--Release of Siberian
Revolutionists--Free Russia
CHAPTER XXXI. THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM
Russia Intoxicated with Freedom--Elihu Root and His Mission--Last
Brilliant Offensive in Galicia--The Great Mutiny in the Army--The
Battalion of Death--Kerensky's Skyrocket Career--Kornilov's
Revolt--Loss of Riga--Lenine, the Dictator--The Impossible "Peace" of
Brest-Litovsk
CHAPTER XXXII. GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON TO THE UNITED STATES
Two Voyages of the Deutschland--U-53 German Submarine Reaches Newport
and Sinks Five British and Neutral Steamers off Nantucket--Rescue of
Survivors by United States Warships--Anti-German Feeling in America
Reaching a Climax
CHAPTER XXXIII. AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR
The United States Enters the Conflict--The Efficiency of Democracy--
Six Months in an American Training Camp Equal to Six Years of German
Compulsory Service--American Soldiers and Their Resourcefulness on
the Battlefield--Methods of Training and Their Results--
The S. A. T. C.
CHAPTER XXXIV. HOW FOOD WON THE WAR
The American Farmer a Potent Factor in Civilization's
Victory--Scientific Studies of Food Production, Distribution and
Consumption--Hoover Lays Down the Law Regulating Wholesalers and
Grocers--Getting the Food Across--Feeding Armies in the Field
CHAPTER XXXV. THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR
Increase from 58,000 Men to Approximately 500,000--Destroyer Fleet
Arrives in British Waters--"We Are Ready Now"--The Hunt of the
U-Boats--Gunnery that is Unrivalled--Depth Charges and Other New
Inventions--The U-Boat Menace Removed--Surrender of German Under-Sea
Navy
CHAPTER XXXVI. CHINA JOINS THE FIGHTING DEMOCRACIES
How the Germans Behaved in China Seventeen Years Before--The Whirligig
of Time Brings Its Own Revenge--The Far Eastern Republic Joins Hands
with the Allies--German Propaganda at Work--Futile Attempt to Restore
the Monarchy--Fear of Japan--War--Thousands of Chinese Toil Behind the
Battle Lines in France--Siam with Its Eight Millions Defies the
Germans--End of Teuton Influence in the Orient
CHAPTER XXXVII. THE DEFEAT AND RECOVERY OF ITALY
Subtle Socialist Gospel Preached by Enemy Plays Havoc with Guileless
Italians--Sudden Onslaught of Germans Drives Cadorna's Men from
Heights--The Spectacular Retreat that Dismayed the World--Glorious
Stand of the Italians on the Piave--Rise of Diaz
CHAPTER XXXVIII. REDEMPTION OF THE HOLY LAND
A Long Campaign Progressing Through Hardships to Glory--General
Allenby Enters Jerusalem on Foot--Turkish Army Crushed in Palestine--
Battle of Armageddon
CHAPTER XXXIX. AMERICA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS
Government Ownership of Railroads, Telegraphs, Telephones--Getting the
Men from Training Camps to the Battle Fronts--From Texas to Toul--A
Gigantic System Working Without a Hitch
CHAPTER XL. SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM
The Emergency Fleet Corporation--Charles M. Schwab as Master
Shipbuilder--Hog Island the Wonder Shipyard of the World--An
Unbeatable Record--Concrete Ships--Wooden Ships--Standardizing the
Steel Ship--Attitude of Labor in the War--Samuel Gompers an Unofficial
Member of the Cabinet--Great Task of the United States Employment
Service
CHAPTER XLI. GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT
The High Tide of German Success--An Army of Six Million Men Flung
Recklessly on the Allies--Most Terrific Battles in all History--The
Red Ruin of War from Arras to St. Quentin--Amiens Within Arms' Reach
of the Invaders--Paris Bombarded by Long-Range Guns from Distance of
Seventy-six Miles--A Generalissimo at Last--Marshal Foch in Supreme
Command
CHAPTER XLII. CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY
German Wave Stops with the Americans--Prussian Guard Flung Back--The
Beginning of Autocracy's End--America's Record of Valor and Victory--
Cantigny--Belleau Wood--Thierry--St. Mihiel--Shock Troops of
the Enemy Annihilated--Soldier's Remarkable Letter.
CHAPTER XLIII. ENGLAND AND FRANCE STRIKE IN THE NORTH
Second Terrific Blow of General Foch--Lens, the Storehouse of
Minerals, Captured--Bapaume Retaken--British Snap the Famous
Hindenburg Line--The Great Thrust Through Cambrai--Tanks to the
Front--Cavalry in Action
CHAPTER XLIV. BELGIUM'S GALLANT EFFORT
The Little Army Under King Albert Thrusts Savagely at the
Germans--Ostend and Zeebrugge Freed from the Submarine
Pirates--Pathetic Scenes as Belgians are Restored to Their Homes
CHAPTER XLV. ITALY'S TERRIFIC DRIVE
Enemy Offensive Opens on Front of Ninety-Seven Miles--Repulse of the
Austrians--Italy Turns the Tables--Terrific Counter-Thrusts from the
Piave to Trente--Forcing the Alpine Passages--Battles High in the
Air--English, French and Americans Back up the Italians in Humbling
the Might of Austria--D'Annunzio's Romantic Bombardment of
Vienna--Diaz Leads his Men to Victory
CHAPTER XLVI. BULGARIA DESERTS GERMANY
Greece in the Throes of Revolution--Fall of Constantine--Serbians
Begin Advance on Bulgars--Thousands of Prisoners Taken--Surrender of
Bulgaria--Panic in Berlin--Passage Through the Country Granted for
Armies of the Allies--Ferdinand Abdicates--Germany's Imagined
Mittel-Europa Dream Forever Destroyed
CHAPTER XLVII. THE CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOR PEACE
Austria-Hungary Makes the First Plea--President Wilson's Abrupt
Answer--Prince Max, Camouflaged as an Apostle of Peace, made
Chancellor and Opens Germany's Pathetic Plea for a Peace by
Negotiation--The President Replies on Behalf of all the Allied
Powers--Foch Pushes on Regardless of Peace Notes
CHAPTER XLVIII. BATTLES IN THE AIR
Conquering the Fear of Death--From Individual Fights to Battles
Between Squadrons--Heroes of the Warring Nations--America's Wonderful
Record--From Nowhere to First Place in Eighteen Months--The Liberty
Motor
CHAPTER XLIX. HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF THE AMERICAN FORCES
Record of the Red Cross on all Fronts--A Gigantic Work Well
Executed--Y. M. C. A.--Y. W. C. A.--Knights of Columbus--Jewish
Welfare Association--Salvation Army--American Library
Association--Other Organizations--Surgery and Sanitation
CHAPTER L. THE PIRATES OF THE UNDER-SEAS
Germany's Ruthless Submarine Policy--A Boomerang Destroying the Hand
that Cast It--Terrorism that Failed--One Hundred and Fifty U-Boats
Sunk or Captured--Shameless Surrender of the German Submarines and of
the Fleet They Protected
CHAPTER LI. APPROACHING THE FINAL STAGE
Cutting the Railroads to Cambrai--Americans Co-operate with British in
Furious Attack--Douai and St. Quentin Taken--The Battle Line
Straightened for the Last Mighty Assault--All Hope Abandoned by the
Kaiser
CHAPTER LII. LAST DAYS OF THE WAR
American Troops Join with the Allies in Colossal Drive on 71-mile
Front--Historic Sedan Taken by the Yanks--Stenay, the Last Battle of
the War--How the Opposing Forces Greeted the News of the Armistice
CHAPTER LIII. THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER
Handcuffs for Four Nations--Bulgaria First to Fly the White Flag--
Allenby's Great Victory Forces Turkey Out--Austria Signs Quickly--
Germany's Capitulation Complete and Humiliating
CHAPTER LIV. PEACE AT LAST
An Unfounded Rumor Starts Enormous Jubilation--Armistice Signed Four
Days Later--Kaiser Abdicates and Flees to Holland--Cowardly Ruler
Seeks Protection of Small Neutral Nation--Looking Into the
Future--Cost of War to the Nations--Liberty Loans--Reconstruction
Problems--McAdoo Resigns--American Ideals in the Old World
CHAPTER LV. AMERICA'S POSITION IN PEACE AND WAR
President Wilson's Stirring Speech in Congress Which Brought the
United States into the War--His Great Speech Before Congress Ending
the War--The Fourteen Points Outlining America's Demands Before Peace
Could be Concluded--Later Peace Principles Enunciated by the President
CHAPTER LVI. THE WAR BY YEARS
Condensed Word-Picture of the Happenings of the Most Momentous
Fifty-two Months in All History--Leading Up to the Eleventh Hour of
the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month of 1918
CHAPTER LVII. BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE
General March's Story of the Work of the Military Intelligence
Division--Of the War Plans Division--Of the Purchase and Traffic
Divisions--How Men, Munitions and Supplies Reached the Western Front
CHAPTER LVIII. GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY
The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces Tells the
Story of the Magnificent Combat Operations of his Troops that Defeated
Prussia's Legions--Official Account Discloses Full Details of the
Fighting.
CHAPTER LIX. PRESIDENT WILSON'S REVIEW OF THE WAR
A Year in the Life of the United States Crowded with Great
Events--Tribute to the Soldiers and Sailors, the Workers at Home Who
Supplied the Sinews of the Great Undertaking, the Women of the Land
Who Contributed to the Great Result--The Future Safe in the Hands of
American Businessmen
SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY OF THE WAR
FOREWORD
This is a popular narrative history of the world's greatest war. Written
frankly from the viewpoint of the United States and the Allies, it
visualizes the bloodiest and most destructive conflict of all the ages
from its remote causes to its glorious conclusion and beneficent
results. The world-shaking rise of new democracies is set forth, and the
enormous national and individual sacrifices producing that resurrection
of human equality are detailed.
Two ideals have been before us in the preparation of this necessary
work. These are simplicity and thoroughness. It is of no avail to
describe the greatest of human events if the description is so confused
that the reader loses interest. Thoroughness is an historical essential
beyond price. So it is that official documents prepared in many
instances upon the field of battle, and others taken from the files of
the governments at war, are the basis of this work. Maps and photographs
of unusual clearness and high authenticity illuminate the text. All that
has gone into war making, into the regeneration of the world, are herein
set forth with historical particularity. The stark horrors of Belgium,
the blighting terrors of chemical warfare, the governmental restrictions
placed upon hundreds of millions of civilians, the war sacrifices
falling upon all the civilized peoples of earth, are in these pages.
It is a book that mankind can well read and treasure.
CHAPTER I
A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM
"My FELLOW COUNTRYMEN: The armistice was signed this morning. Everything
for which America fought has been accomplished. The war thus comes to an
end."
Speaking to the Congress and the people of the United States, President
Wilson made this declaration on November 11, 1918. A few hours before he
made this statement, Germany, the empire of blood and iron, had agreed
to an armistice, terms of which were the hardest and most humiliating
ever imposed upon a nation of the first class. It was the end of a war
for which Germany had prepared for generations, a war bred of a
philosophy that Might can take its toll of earth's possessions, of human
lives and liberties, when and where it will. That philosophy involved
the cession to imperial Germany of the best years of young German
manhood, the training of German youths to be killers of men. It involved
the creation of a military caste, arrogant beyond all precedent, a caste
that set its strength and pride against the righteousness of democracy,
against the possession of wealth and bodily comforts, a caste that
visualized itself as part of a power-mad Kaiser's assumption that he and
God were to shape the destinies of earth.
When Marshal Foch, the foremost strategist in the world, representing
the governments of the Allies and the United States, delivered to the
emissaries of Germany terms upon which they might surrender, he brought
to an end the bloodiest, the most destructive and the most beneficent
war the world has known. It is worthy of note in this connection that
the three great wars in which the United States of America engaged have
been wars for freedom. The Revolutionary War was for the liberty of the
colonies; the Civil War was waged for the freedom of manhood and for the
principle of the indissolubility of the Union; the World War, beginning
1914, was fought for the right of small nations to self-government and
for the right of every country to the free use of the high seas.
More than four million American men were under arms when the conflict
ended. Of these, more than two million were upon the fields of France
and Italy. These were thoroughly trained in the military art. They had
proved their right to be considered among the most formidable soldiers
the world has known. Against the brown rock of that host in khaki, the
flower of German savagery and courage had broken at Chateau-Thierry.
There the high tide of Prussian militarism, after what had seemed to be
an irresistible dash for the destruction of France, spent itself in the
bloody froth and spume of bitter defeat. There the Prussian Guard
encountered the Marines, the Iron Division and the other heroic
organizations of America's new army. There German soldiers who had been
hardened and trained under German conscription before the war, and who
had learned new arts in their bloody trade, through their service in the
World War, met their masters in young Americans taken from the shop, the
field, and the forge, youths who had been sent into battle with a scant
six months' intensive training in the art of war. Not only did these
American soldiers hold the German onslaught where it was but, in a
sudden, fierce, resistless counter-thrust they drove back in defeat and
confusion the Prussian Guard, the Pommeranian Reserves, and smashed the
morale of that German division beyond hope of resurrection.
The news of that exploit sped from the Alps to the North Sea Coast,
through all the camps of the Allies, with incredible rapidity. "The
Americans have held the Germans. They can fight," ran the message. New
life came into the war-weary ranks of heroic poilus and into the
steel-hard armies of Great Britain. "The Americans are as good as the
best. There are millions of them, and millions more are coming," was
heard on every side. The transfusion of American blood came as magic
tonic, and from that glorious day there was never a doubt as to the
speedy defeat of Germany. From that day the German retreat dated. The
armistice signed on November 11, 1918, was merely the period finishing
the death sentence of German militarism, the first word of which was
uttered at Chateau-Thierry.
Germany's defiance to the world, her determination to force her will and
her "kultur" upon the democracies of earth, produced the conflict. She
called to her aid three sister autocracies: Turkey, a land ruled by the
whims of a long line of moody misanthropic monarchs; Bulgaria, the
traitor nation cast by its Teutonic king into a war in which its people
had no choice and little sympathy; Austria-Hungary, a congeries of races
in which a Teutonic minority ruled with an iron scepter.
Against this phalanx of autocracy, twenty-four nations arrayed
themselves. Populations of these twenty-eight warring nations far
exceeded the total population of all the remainder of humanity. The
conflagration of war literally belted the earth. It consumed the most
civilized of capitals. It raged in the swamps and forests of Africa. To
its call came alien peoples speaking words that none but themselves
could translate, wearing garments of exotic cut and hue amid the smart
garbs and sober hues of modern civilization. A twentieth century Babel
came to the fields of France for freedom's sake, and there was born an
internationalism making for the future understanding and peace of the
world. The list of the twenty-eight nations entering the World War and
their populations follow:
Countries. Population. Countries. Population.
United States 110,000,000 Italy 37,000,000
Austria-Hungary 50,000,000 Japan 54,000,000
Belgium 8,000,000 Liberia 2,000,000
Bulgaria 5,000,000 Montenegro 500,000
Brazil 23,000,000 Nicaragua 700,000
China 420,000,000 Panama 400,000
Costa Rica 425,000 Portugal* 15,000,000
Cuba 2,500,000 Roumania 7,500,000
France 90,000,000 Russia 180,000,000
Gautemala 2,000,000 San Marino 10,000
Germany 67,000,000 Serbia 4,500,000
Great Britain 440,000,000 Siam 6,000,000
Greece 5,000,000 Turkey 42,000,000
Haiti 2,000,000 -----------------
Honduras 600,000 Total 1,575,135,000
* Including colonies
The following nations, with their populations, took no part in the World
War:
Countries. Population. Countries. Population.
Abyssinia 8,000,000 Argentina 8,000,000
Afghanistan 6,000,000 Bhutan 250,000
Andorra 6,000 Chile 5,000,000
Colombia 5,000,000 Paraguay 800,000
Denmark 3,000,000 Persia 9,000,000
Ecuador 1,500,000 Salvador 1,250,000
Mexico 15,000,000 Spain 20,000,000
Monaco 20,000 Switzerland 3,750,000
Nepal 4,000,000 Venezuela 2,800,000
Holland* 40,000,000 -----------------
Norway 2,500,000 Total 135,876,000
* Including colonies.
Never before in the history of the world were so many races and peoples
mingled in a military effort as those that came together under the
command of Marshal Foch. If we divide the human races into white,
yellow, red and black, all four were largely represented. Among the
white races there were Frenchmen, Italians, Portuguese, English,
Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Canadians, Australians, South Africans (of both
British and Dutch descent) New Zealanders; in the American army,
probably every other European nation was represented, with additional
contingents from those already named, so that every branch of the white
race figured in the ethnological total.
There were representatives of many Asiatic races, including not only the
volunteers from the native states of India, but elements from the French
colony in Cochin China, with Annam, Cambodia, Tonkin, Laos, and Kwang
Chau Wan. England and France both contributed many African tribes,
including Arabs from Algeria and Tunis, Senegalese, Saharans, and many
of the South African races. The red races of North America were
represented in the armies of both Canada and the United States, while
the Maoris, Samoans, and other Polynesian races were likewise
represented. And as, in the American Army, there were men of German,
Austrian, and Hungarian descent, and, in all probability, contingents
also of Bulgarian and Turkish blood, it may be said that Foch commanded
an army representing the whole human race, united in defense of the
ideals of the Allies.
It will be seen that more than ten times the number of neutral persons
were engulfed in the maelstrom of war. Millions of these suffered from
it during the entire period of the conflict, four years three months and
fifteen days, a total of 1,567 days. For almost four years Germany
rolled up a record of victories on land and of piracies on and under the
seas.
[Illustration: TERRITORY OCCUPIED BY THE ALLIES UNDER THE ARMISTICE OF
NOVEMBER 11, 1918 (East/West: Brussels to Berlin; North South: Keil to
Bern)]
Dotted area, invaded territory of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and
Alsace-Lorraine to be evacuated in fourteen days; area in small
squares, part of Germany west of the Rhine to be evacuated in
twenty-five days and occupied by Allied and U. S. troops; lightly
shaded area to east of Rhine, neutral zone; black semi-circles
bridge-heads of thirty kilometers radius in the neutral zone to be
occupied by Allied armies.
Little by little, day after day, piracies dwindled as the murderous
submarine was mastered and its menace strangled. On the land, the
Allies, under the matchless leadership of Marshal Ferdinand Foch and the
generous co-operation of Americans, British, French and Italians, under
the great Generals Pershing, Haig, Petain and Diaz, wrested the
initiative from von Hindenburg and Ludendorf, late in July, 1918. Then,
in one hundred and fifteen days of wonderful strategy and the fiercest
fighting the world has ever witnessed, Foch and the Allies closed upon
the Germanic armies the jaws of a steel trap. A series of brilliant
maneuvers dating from the battle of Chateau-Thierry in which the
Americans checked the Teutonic rush, resulted in the defeat and rout on
all the fronts of the Teutonic commands.
In that titanic effort, America's share was that of the final deciding
factor. A nation unjustly titled the "Dollar Nation," believed by
Germany and by other countries to be soft, selfish and wasteful, became
over night hard as tempered steel, self-sacrificing with an altruism
that inspired the world and thrifty beyond all precedent in order that
not only its own armies but the armies of the Allies might be fed and
munitioned.
Leading American thought and American action, President Wilson stood out
as the prophet of the democracies of the world. Not only did he inspire
America and the Allies to a military and naval effort beyond precedent,
but he inspired the civilian populations of the world to extraordinary
effort, efforts that eventually won the war. For the decision was gained
quite as certainly on the wheat fields of Western America, in the shops
and the mines and the homes of America as it was upon the battle-field.
This effort came in response to the following appeal by the President:
These, then, are the things we must do, and do well, besides
fighting--the things without which mere fighting would be fruitless:
We must supply abundant food for ourselves and for our armies and our
seamen not only, but also for a large part of the nations with whom we
have now made common cause, in whose support and by whose sides we shall
be fighting;
We must supply ships by the hundreds out of our shipyards to carry to
the other side of the sea, submarines or no submarines, what will every
day be needed there; and--
Abundant materials out of our fields and our mines and our factories
with which not only to clothe and equip our own forces on land and sea
but also to clothe and support our people for whom the gallant fellows
under arms can no longer work, to help clothe and equip the armies with
which we are co-operating in Europe, and to keep the looms and
manufactories there in raw material;
Coal to keep the fires going in ships at sea and in the furnaces of
hundreds of factories across the sea;
Steel out of which to make arms and ammunition both here and there;
Rails for worn-out railways back of the fighting fronts;
Locomotives and rolling stock to take the place of those every day going
to pieces;
Everything with which the people of England and France and Italy and
Russia have usually supplied themselves, but cannot now afford the men,
the materials, or the machinery to make.
I particularly appeal to the farmers of the South to plant abundant
foodstuffs as well as cotton. They can show their patriotism in no
better or more convincing way than by resisting the great temptation of
the present price of cotton and helping, helping upon a large scale, to
feed the nation and the peoples everywhere who are fighting for their
liberties and for our own. The variety of their crops will be the
visible measure of their comprehension of their national duty.
The response was amazing in its enthusiastic and general compliance. No
autocracy issuing a ukase could have been obeyed so explicitly. Not only
did the various classes of workers and individuals observe the
President's suggestions to the letter, but they yielded up individual
right after right in order that the war work of the government might be
expedited. Extraordinary powers and functions were granted by the people
through Congress, and it was not until peace was declared that these
rights and powers returned to the people.
These governmental activities ceased functioning after the war:
Food administration;
Fuel administration;
Espionage act;
War trade board;
Alien property custodian (with extension of time for certain duties);
Agricultural stimulation;
Housing construction (except for shipbuilders);
Control of telegraphs and telephones;
Export control.
These functions were extended:
Control over railroads: to cease within twenty-one months after the
proclamation of peace.
The War Finance Corporation: to cease to function six months after the
war, with further time for liquidation.
The Capital Issues Committee: to terminate in six months after the peace
proclamation.
The Aircraft Board: to end in six months after peace was proclaimed; and
the government operation of ships, within five years after the war was
officially ended.
President Wilson, generally acclaimed as the leader of the world's
democracies, phrased for civilization the arguments against autocracy in
the great peace conference after the war. The President headed the
American delegation to that conclave of world re-construction. With him
as delegates to the conference were Robert Lansing, Secretary of State;
Henry White, former Ambassador to France and Italy; Edward M. House and
General Tasker H. Bliss.
Representing American Labor at the International Labor conference held
in Paris simultaneously with the Peace Conference were Samuel Gompers,
president of the American Federation of Labor; William Green,
secretary-treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America; John R.
Alpine, president of the Plumbers' Union; James Duncan, president of the
International Association of Granite Cutters; Frank Duffy, president of
the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and Frank Morrison,
secretary of the American Federation of Labor.
Estimating the share of each Allied nation in the great victory, mankind
will conclude that the heaviest cost in proportion to prewar population
and treasure was paid by the nations that first felt the shock of war,
Belgium, Serbia, Poland and France. All four were the battle-grounds of
huge armies, oscillating in a bloody frenzy over once fertile fields and
once prosperous towns.
Belgium, with a population of 8,000,000, had a casualty list of more
than 350,000; France, with its casualties of 4,000,000 out of a
population (including its colonies) of 90,000,000, is really the martyr
nation of the world. Her gallant poilus showed the world how cheerfully
men may die in defense of home and liberty. Huge Russia, including
hapless Poland, had a casualty list of 7,000,000 out of its entire
population of 180,000,000. The United States out of a population of
110,000,000 had a casualty list of 236,117 for nineteen months of war;
of these 53,169 were killed or died of disease; 179,625 were wounded;
and 3,323 prisoners or missing.
[Illustration: KINGS AND CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF THE PRINCIPAL POWERS
ASSOCIATED AGAINST THE GERMAN ALLIANCE (King George V of England,
President Raymond of France, President Woodrow Wilson of the United
States, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, King Albert I of Belgium)]
[Illustration: Photograph of Clemenceau]
Copyright International Film Service.
THE "TIGER" OF FRANCE
George Benjamin Eugene Clemenceau, world-famous Premier of France, who
by his inspiring leadership maintained the magnificent morale of his
countrymen in the face of terrific assaults of the enemy.
[Illustration: THE RIGHT HONORABLE DAVID LLOYD GEORGE]
British Premier, who headed the coalition cabinet which carried
England through the war to victory.
[Illustration: KING GEORGE V]
King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, who struggled
earnestly to prevent the war, but when Germany attacked Belgium sent
the mighty forces of the British Empire to stop the Hun.
To the glory of Great Britain must be recorded the enormous effort made
by its people, showing through operations of its army and navy. The
British Empire, including, the Colonies, had a casualty list of
3,049,992 men out of a total population of 440,000,000. Of these 658,665
were killed; 2,032,122 were wounded, and 359,204 were reported missing.
It raised an army of 7,000,000, and fought seven separate foreign
campaigns, in France, Italy, Dardanelles, Mesopotamia, Macedonia, East
Africa and Egypt. It raised its navy personnel from 115,000 to 450,000
men. Co-operating with its allies on the sea, it destroyed approximately
one hundred and fifty German and Austrian submarines. It aided
materially the American navy and transport service in sending overseas
the great American army whose coming decided the war. The British navy
and transport service during the war made the following record of
transportation and convoy:
Twenty million men, 2,000,000 horses, 130,000,000 tons of food,
25,000,000 tons of explosives and supplies, 51,000,000 tons of oil and
fuels, 500,000 vehicles. In 1917 alone 7,000,000 men, 500,000 animals,
200,000 vehicles and 9,500,000 tons of stores were conveyed to the
several war fronts.
The German losses were estimated at 1,588,000 killed or died of disease;
4,000,000 wounded; and 750,000 prisoners and missing.
A tabulation of the estimates of casualties and the money cost of the
war reveals the enormous price paid by humanity to convince a
military-mad Germanic caste that Right and not Might must hereafter rule
the world. These figures do not include Serbian losses, which are
unavailable. Following is the tabulation:
THE ENTENTE ALLIES THE CENTRAL POWERS
Russia 7,000,000 Germany 6,338,000
France 4,000,000 Austria-Hungary 4,500,000
British Empire (official) 3,049,992 Turkey 750,000
Italy 1,000,000 Bulgaria 200,000
Belgium 350,000
Roumania 200,000
United States (official) 236,117
Total 15,836,109 Total 11,788,000
Grand total of estimated casualties, 27,624,109, of which the dead alone
number perhaps 7,000,000.
ESTIMATED COST IN MONEY
THE ENTENTE ALLIES THE CENTRAL POWERS
Russia $30,000,000,000 Germany $45,000,000,000
Britain 52,000,000,000 Austria-Hungary 25,000,000,000
France 32,000,000,000 Turkey 5,000,000,000
United States 40,000,000,000 Bulgaria 2,000,000,000
Italy 12,000,000,000 ------------------
Roumania 3,000,000,000 Total $77,000,000,000
Serbia 3,000,000,000
--------------------
Total $172,000,000,000
Grand total of estimated cost in money, $249,000,000,000. Was the cost
too heavy? Was the price of international liberty paid in human lives
and in sacrifices untold too great for the peace that followed?
Even the most practical of money changers, the most sentimental
pacifist, viewing the cost in connection with the liberation of whole
nations, with the spread of enlightened liberty through oppressed and
benighted lands, with the destruction of autocracy, of the military
caste, and of Teutonic kultur in its materialistic aspect, must agree
that the blood was well shed, the treasure well spent.
Millions of gallant, eager youths learned how to die fearlessly and
gloriously. They died to teach vandal nations that nevermore will
humanity permit the exploitation of peoples for militaristic purposes.
As Milton, the great philosopher poet, phrased the lesson taught to
Germany on the fields of France:
They err who count it glorious to subdue
By conquest far and wide, to overrun
Large countries, and in field great battles win,
Great cities by assault; what do these worthies
But rob and spoil, burn, slaughter, and enslave
Peaceable nations, neighboring or remote
Made captive, yet deserving freedom more
Than those their conquerors, who leave behind
Nothing but ruin wheresoe'er they rove
And all the flourishing works of peace destroy.
CHAPTER II
THE WORLD SUDDENLY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
Demoralization, like the black plague of the middle ages, spread in
every direction immediately following the first overt acts of war. Men
who were millionaires at nightfall awoke the next morning to find
themselves bankrupt through depreciation of their stock-holdings.
Prosperous firms of importers were put out of business. International
commerce was dislocated to an extent unprecedented in history.
The greatest of hardships immediately following the war, however, were
visited upon those who unhappily were caught on their vacations or on
their business trips within the area affected by the war. Not only men,
but women and children, were subjected to privations of the severest
character. Notes which had been negotiable, paper money of every
description, and even silver currency suddenly became of little value.
Americans living in hotels and pensions facing this sudden shrinkage in
their money, were compelled to leave the roofs that had sheltered them.
That which was true of Americans was true of all other nationalities, so
that every embassy and the office of every consul became a miniature
Babel of excited, distressed humanity.
The sudden seizure of railroads for war purposes in Germany, France,
Austria and Russia, cut off thousands of travelers in villages that were
almost inaccessible. Europeans being comparatively close to their homes,
were not in straits as severe as the Americans whose only hope for aid
lay in the speedy arrival of American gold. Prices of food soared beyond
all precedent and many of these hapless strangers went under. Paris, the
brightest and gayest city in Europe, suddenly became the most somber of
dwelling places. No traffic was permitted on the highways at night. No
lights were permitted and all the cafes were closed at eight o'clock.
The gay capital was placed under iron military rule.
Seaports, and especially the pleasure resorts in France, Belgium and
England, were placed under a military supervision. Visitors were ordered
to return to their homes and every resort was shrouded with darkness at
night. The records of those early days are filled with stories of
dramatic happenings.
On the night of July 31st Jean Leon Jaures, the famous leader of French
Socialists, was assassinated while dining in a small restaurant near the
Paris Bourse. His assassin was Raoul Villein. Jaures had been
endeavoring to accomplish a union of French and German Socialists with
the aim of preventing the war. The object of the assassination appeared
to have been wholly political.
On the same day stock exchanges throughout the United States were
closed, following the example of European stock exchanges. Ship
insurance soared to prohibitive figures. Reservists of the French and
German armies living outside of their native land were called to the
colors and their homeward rush still further complicated transportation
for civilians. All the countries of Europe clamored for gold. North and
South America complied with the demand by sending cargoes of the
precious metal overseas. The German ship Kron Prinzessin with a cargo of
gold, attempted to make the voyage to Hamburg, but a wireless warning
that Allied cruisers were waiting for it off the Grand Banks of
Newfoundland, compelled the big ship to turn back to safety in America.
Channel boats bearing American refugees from the Continent to London
were described as floating hells. London was excited over the war and
holiday spirit, and overrun with five thousand citizens of the United
States tearfully pleading with the American Ambassador for money for
transportation home or assurances of personal safety.
The condition of the terror-stricken tourists fleeing to the friendly
shores of England from Continental countries crowded with soldiers
dragging in their wake heavy guns, resulted in an extraordinary
gathering of two thousand Americans at a hotel one afternoon and the
formation of a preliminary organization to afford relief. Some people
who attended the meeting were already beginning to feel the pinch of
want with little prospects of immediate succor. One man and wife, with
four children, had six cents when he appealed to Ambassador Page after
an exciting escape from German territory.
[Illustration: WHERE THE WORLD WAR BEGAN. Map showing 15 degrees East to
28 degrees East; 35 degrees North to 52 degrees North. Germany and
Russia on the North; the Mediterranean on the South; the Adriatic Sea
on the West; the Aegean and Western Turkey on the East.]
Oscar Straus, worth ten millions, struck London with nine dollars.
Although he had letters of credit for five thousand, he was unable to
cash them in Vienna. Women hugging newspaper bundles containing
expensive Paris frocks and millinery were herded in third-class
carriages and compelled to stand many hours. They reached London utterly
fatigued and unkempt, but mainly cheerful, only to find the hotels
choked with fellow countrymen fortunate to reach there sooner.
The Ambassador was harassed by anxious women and children who asked many
absurd questions which he could not answer. He said:
"The appeals of these people are most distressing. They are very much
excited, and no small wonder. I regret I have no definite news of the
prospects or plans of the government for relief. I have communicated
their condition to the Department of State and expect a response and
assurances of coming aid as soon as possible. That the government will
act I have not the slightest doubt. I am confident that Washington will
do everything in her power for relief. How soon, I cannot tell. I have
heard many distressing tales during the last forty-eight hours."
A crowd filled the Ambassador's office on the first floor of the flat
building, in Victoria Street, which was mainly composed of women, school
teachers, art students, and other persons doing Europe on a shoestring.
Many were entirely out of money and with limited securities, which were
not negotiable.
The action of the British Government extending the bank holiday till
Thursday of that week was discouraging news for the new arrivals from
the Continent, as it was uncertain whether the express and steamship
companies would open in the morning for the cashing of checks and the
delivery of mail, as was announced the previous Saturday.
Doctors J. Riddle Goffe, of New York; Frank F. Simpson, of Pittsburgh;
Arthur D. Ballon of Vistaburg, Mich., and B. F. Martin, of Chicago,
formed themselves into a committee, and asked the co-operation of the
press in America to bring about adequate assistance for the marooned
Americans, and to urge the bankers of the United States to insist on
their letters of credit and travelers' checks being honored so far as
possible by the agents in Europe upon whom they were drawn.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS]
In the first weeks of the war the Germans occupied Rheims, but were
driven out after von Kluck's retreat. On September 20, 1914, they were
reported as first shelling the Cathedral of Rheims and the civilized
world stood aghast, for the edifice, begun in 1212, is one of the
chief glories of Gothic architecture in all Europe.
[Illustration: Seven men marching abreast.]
Photo by Underwood and Underwood. N.Y.
THE KAISER AND HIS SIX SONS
The ex-Emperor and his sons leading a procession in Berlin soon after
the declaration of war. It was noted that in spite of their martial
appearance the royal family were extremely careful to keep out of
range of the Allied guns. From left to right they are: The Kaiser,
Crown Prince Wilhelm, Princes Eitel Friedrich, Adalbert, August, Oscar
and Joachim.
Dr. Martin and Dr. Simpson, who left London on Saturday for Switzerland
to fetch back a young American girl, were unable to get beyond Paris,
and they returned to London. Everywhere they found trains packed with
refugees whose only object in life apparently was to reach the channel
boats, accepting cheerfully the discomforts of those vessels if only
able to get out of the war.
Rev. J. P. Garfield, of Claremore, N. H., gave the following account of
his experiences in Holland:
"On sailing from the Hook of Holland near midnight we pulled out just as
the boat train from The Hague arrived. The steamer paused, but as she
was filled to her capacity she later continued on her voyage, leaving
fully two hundred persons marooned on the wharf.
"Our discomforts while crossing the North Sea were great. Every seat was
filled with sleepers, the cabins were given to women and children. The
crowd, as a rule, was helpful and kindly, the single men carrying the
babies and people lending money to those without funds. Despite the
refugee conditions prevailing it was noticeable that many women on the
Hook wharf clung tenaciously to bandboxes containing Parisian hats."
Travelers from Cologne said that searchlights were operated from the
tops of the hotels all night searching for airplanes, and machine guns
were mounted on the famous Cologne Cathedral. They also reported that
tourists were refused hotel accommodations at Frankfort because they
were without cash.
Men, women and children sat in the streets all night. The trains were
stopped several miles from the German frontier and the passengers,
especially the women and children, suffered great hardship being forced
to continue their journey on foot.
Passengers arriving at London from Montreal on the Cunard Line steamer
Andania, bound for Southampton, reported the vessel was met at sea by a
British torpedo boat and ordered by wireless to stop. The liner then was
led into Plymouth as a matter of precaution against mines. Plymouth was
filled with soldiers and searchlights were seen constantly flashing
about the harbor.
Otis B. Kent, an attorney for the Interstate Commerce Commission, of
Washington, arrived in London after an exciting journey from Petrograd.
Unable to find accommodations at a hotel he slept on the railway station
floor. He said:
"I had been on a trip to Sweden to see the midnight sun. I did not
realize the gravity of the situation until I saw the Russian fleet
cleared for action. This was only July 26th, at Kronstadt, where the
shipyards were working overtime.
"I arrived at the Russian capital on the following day. Enormous
demonstrations were taking place. I was warned to get out and left on
the night of the 28th for Berlin. I saw Russian soldiers drilling at the
stations and artillery constantly on the move.
"At Berlin I was warned to keep off the streets for fear of being
mistaken for an Englishmen. At Hamburg the number of warnings was
increased. Two Russians who refused to rise in a cafe when the German
anthem was played were attacked and badly beaten. I also saw two
Englishmen attacked in the street, but they finally were rescued by the
police.
"There was a harrowing scene when the Hamburg-American Line steamer
Imperator canceled its sailing. She left stranded three thousand
passengers, most of them short of money, and the women wailing. About
one hundred and fifty of us were given passage in the second class of
the American Line steamship Philadelphia, for which I was offered $400
by a speculator.
"The journey to Flushing was made in a packed train, its occupants
lacking sleep and food. No trouble was encountered on the frontier."
Theodore Hetzler, of the Fifth Avenue Bank, was appointed chairman of
the meeting for preliminary relief of the stranded tourists, and
committees were named to interview officials of the steamship companies
and of the hotels, to search for lost baggage, to make arrangements for
the honoring of all proper checks and notes, and to confer with the
members of the American embassy.
Oscar Straus, who arrived from Paris, said that the United States
embassy there was working hard to get Americans out of France. Great
enthusiasm prevailed at the French capital, he said, owing to the
announcement that the United States Government was considering a plan to
send transports to take Americans home.
The following committees were appointed at the meeting:
Finance--Theodore Hetzler, Fred I. Kent and James G. Cannon;
Transportation--Joseph F. Day, Francis M. Weld and George D. Smith, all
of New York; Diplomatic--Oscar S. Straus, Walter L. Fisher and James
Byrne; Hotels--L. H. Armour, of Chicago, and Thomas J. Shanley, New
York.
The committee established headquarters where Americans might register
and obtain assistance. Chandler Anderson, a member of the International
Claims Commission, arrived in London from Paris. He said he had been
engaged with the work of the commission at Versailles, when he was
warned by the American embassy that he had better leave France. He acted
promptly on this advice and the commission was adjourned until after the
war. Mr. Anderson had to leave his baggage behind him because the
railway company would not register it. He said the city of Paris
presented a strange contrast to the ordinary animation prevailing there.
Most of the shops were closed. There were no taxis in the streets, and
only a few vehicles drawn by horses.
The armored cruiser Tennessee, converted for the time being into a
treasure ship, left New York on the night of August 6th, 1914, to carry
$7,500,000 in gold to the many thousand Americans who were in want in
European countries. Included in the $7,500,000 was $2,500,000
appropriated by the government. Private consignments in gold in sums
from $1,000 to $5,000 were accepted by Colonel Smith, of the army
quartermaster's department, who undertook their delivery to Americans in
Paris and other European ports.
The cruiser carried as passengers Ambassador Willard, who returned to
his post at Madrid, and army and naval officers assigned as military
observers in Europe. On the return trip accommodations for 200 Americans
were available.
The dreadnaught Florida, after being hastily coaled and provisioned,
left the Brooklyn Navy Yard under sealed orders at 9.30 o'clock the
morning of August 6th and proceeded to Tompkinsville, where she dropped
anchor near the Tennessee.
The Florida was sent to protect the neutrality of American ports and
prohibit supplies to belligerent ships. Secretary Daniels ordered her to
watch the port of New York and sent the Mayflower to Hampton Roads.
Destroyers guarded ports along the New England coast and those at Lewes,
Del., to prevent violations of neutrality at Philadelphia and in that
territory. Any vessel that attempted to sail for a belligerent port
without clearance papers was boarded by American officials.
The Texas and Louisiana, at Vera Cruz and the Minnesota, at Tampico,
were ordered to New York, and Secretary Daniels announced that other
American vessels would be ordered north as fast as room could be found
for them in navy yard docks.
At wireless stations, under the censorship ordered by the President, no
code messages were allowed in any circumstances. Messages which might
help any of the belligerents in any way were barred.
The torpedo-boat destroyer Warrington and the revenue cutter
Androscoggin arrived at Bar Harbor on August 6th, to enforce neutrality
regulations and allowed no foreign ships to leave Frenchman's Bay
without clearance papers. The United States cruiser Milwaukee sailed the
same day from the Puget Sound Navy Yard to form part of the coast patrol
to enforce neutrality regulations.
Arrangements were made in Paris by Myron T. Herrick, the American
Ambassador, acting under instructions from Washington, to take over the
affairs of the German embassy, while Alexander H. Thackara, the American
Consul General, looked after the affairs of the German consulate.
President Poincare and the members of the French cabinet later issued a
joint proclamation to the French nation in which was the phrase
"mobilization is not war."
The marching of the soldiers in the streets with the English, Russian
and French flags flying, the singing of patriotic songs and the shouting
of "On to Berlin!" were much less remarkable than the general demeanor
and cold resolution of most of the people.
The response to the order of mobilization was instant, and the stations
of all the railways, particularly those leading to the eastward, were
crowded with reservists. Many women accompanied the men until close to
the stations, where, softly crying, farewells were said. The troop
trains left at frequent intervals. All the automobile busses
disappeared, having been requisitioned by the army to carry meat, the
coachwork of the vehicles being removed and replaced with specially
designed bodies. A large number of taxicabs, private automobiles and
horses and carts also were taken over by the military for transport
purposes.
The wildest enthusiasm was manifested on the boulevards when the news of
the ordering of the mobilization became known. Bodies of men formed into
regular companies in ranks ten deep, paraded the streets waving the
tricolor and other national emblems and cheering and singing the
"Marseillaise" and the "Internationale," at the same time throwing their
hats in the air. On the sidewalks were many weeping women and children.
All the stores and cafes were deserted.
All foreigners were compelled to leave Paris or France before the end of
the first day of mobilization by train but not by automobile. Time
tables were posted on the walls of Paris giving the times of certain
trains on which these people might leave the city.
American citizens or British subjects were allowed to remain in France,
except in the regions on the eastern frontier and near certain
fortresses, provided they made declaration to the police and obtained a
special permit.
As to Italy's situation, Rome was quite calm and the normal aspect made
tourists decide that Italy was the safest place. Austria's note to
Serbia was issued without consulting Italy. One point of the Triple
Alliance provided that no member should take action in the Balkans
before an agreement with the other allies. Such an agreement did not
take place. The alliance was of defensive, not aggressive, character and
could not force an ally to follow any enterprise taken on the sole
account and without a notice, as such action taken by Austria against
Serbia. It was felt even then that Italy would eventually cast its lot
with the Entente Allies.
Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo; John Skelton Williams,
Comptroller of the Currency; Charles S. Hamblin and William P. G.
Harding, members of the Federal Reserve Board, went to New York early in
August, 1914, where they discussed relief measures with a group of
leading bankers at what was regarded as the most momentous conference of
the kind held in the country in recent years.
The New York Clearing House Committee, on August 2d, called a meeting of
the Clearing House Association, to arrange for the immediate issuance of
clearing house certificates. Among those at the conference were J. P.
Morgan and his partner, Henry P. Davison; Frank A. Vanderlip, president
of the National City Bank, and A. Barton Hepburn, chairman of the Chase
National Bank.
CHAPTER III
WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR
While it is true that the war was conceived in Berlin, it is none the
less true that it was born in the Balkans. It is necessary in order that
we may view with correct perspective the background of the World War,
that we gain some notion of the Balkan States and the complications
entering into their relations. These countries have been the adopted
children of the great European powers during generations of rulers.
Russia assumed guardianship of the nations having a preponderance of
Slavic blood; Roumania with its Latin consanguinities was close to
France and Italy; Bulgaria, Greece, and Balkan Turkey were debatable
regions wherein the diplomats of the rival nations secured temporary
victories by devious methods.
The Balkans have fierce hatreds and have been the site of sudden
historic wars. At the time of the declaration of the World War, the
Balkan nations were living under the provisions of the Treaty of
Bucharest, dated August 10, 1913. Greece, Roumania, Bulgaria, Serbia and
Montenegro were signers, and Turkey acquiesced in its provisions.
[Illustration: PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY OF BUCHAREST, 1913. (Map showing
the Adriatic on the West, the Black Sea on the East, Roumania on the
North and Crete on the South. Cross hatching show land allocations
among Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria and Roumania.)]
The assassination at Sarajevo had sent a convulsive shudder throughout
the Balkans. The reason lay in the century-old antagonism between the
Slav and the Teuton. Serbia, Montenegro and Russia had never forgiven
Austria for seizing Bosnia and Herzegovina and making these Slavic
people subjects of the Austrian crown. Bulgaria, Roumania and Turkey
remained cold at the news of the assassination. German diplomacy was in
the ascendant at these courts and the prospect of war with Germany as
their great ally presented no terrors for them. The sympathies of the
people of Greece were with Serbia, but the Grecian Court, because the
Queen of Greece was the only sister of the German Kaiser, was whole
heartedly with Austria. Perhaps at the first the Roumanians were most
nearly neutral. They believed strongly that each of the small nations of
the Balkan region as well as all of the small nations that had been
absorbed but had not been digested by Austria, should cut itself from
the leading strings held by the large European powers. There was a
distinct undercurrent, for a federation resembling that of the United
States of America between these peoples. This was expressed most clearly
by M. Jonesco, leader of the Liberal party of Roumania and generally
recognized as the ablest statesman of middle Europe. He declared:
"I always believed, and still believe, that the Balkan States cannot
secure their future otherwise than by a close understanding among
themselves, whether this understanding shall or shall not take the form
of a federation. No one of the Balkan States is strong enough to resist
the pressure from one or another of the European powers.
"For this reason I am deeply grieved to see in the Balkan coalition of
1912 Roumania not invited. If Roumania had taken part in the first one,
we should not have had the second. I did all that was in my power and
succeeded in preventing the war between Roumania and the Balkan League
in the winter of 1912-13.
"I risked my popularity, and I do not feel sorry for it. I employed all
my efforts to prevent the second Balkan war, which, as is well known,
was profitable to us. I repeatedly told the Bulgarians that they ought
not to enter it because in that case we would enter it too. But I was
not successful in my efforts.
"During the second Balkan war I did all in my power to end it as quickly
as possible. At the conference at Bucharest I made efforts, as Mr.
Pashich and Mr. Venizelos know very well, to secure for beaten Bulgaria
the best terms. My object was to obtain a new coalition of all the
Balkan States, including Roumania. Had I succeeded in this the situation
would be much better. No reasonable man will deny that the Balkan States
are neutralizing each other at the present time, which in itself makes
the whole situation all the more miserable.
"In October, 1913, when I succeeded in facilitating the conclusion of
peace between Greece and Turkey, I was pursuing the same object of the
Balkan coalition. On my return from Athens I endeavored, though without
success, to put the Greco-Turkish relations on a basis of friendship,
being convinced that the well-understood interest of both countries lies
not only in friendly relations, but even in an alliance between them.
"The dissensions that exist between the Balkan States can be settled in
a friendly way without war. The best moment for this would be after the
general war, when the map of Europe will be remade. The Balkan country
which would start war against another Balkan country would commit, not
only a crime against her own future, but an act of folly as well.
"The destiny and future of the Balkan States, and of all the small
European peoples as well, will not be regulated by fratricidal wars,
but, with this great European struggle, the real object of which is to
settle the question whether Europe shall enter an era of justice, and
therefore happiness for the small peoples, or whether we will face a
period of oppression more or less gilt-edged. And as I always believed
that wisdom and truth will triumph in the end, I want to believe, too,
that, in spite of the pessimistic news reaching me from the different
sides of the Balkan countries, there will be no war among them in order
to justify those who do not believe in the vitality of the small
peoples."
The conference at Rome, April 10, 1918, to settle outstanding questions
between the Italians and the Slavs of the Adriatic, drew attention to
those Slavonic peoples in Europe who were under non-Slavonic rule. At
the beginning of the war there were three great Slavonic groups in
Europe: First, the Russians with the Little Russians, speaking languages
not more different than the dialect of Yorkshire is from the dialect of
Devonshire; second, a central group, including the Poles, the Czechs or
Bohemians, the Moravians, and Slovaks, this group thus being separated
under the four crowns of Russia, Germany, Austria and Hungary; the
third, the southern group, included the Sclavonians, the Croatians, the
Dalmatians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians, the Slavs, generally called
Slovenes, in the western part of Austria, down to Goritzia, and also the
two independent kingdoms of Montenegro and Serbia.
Like the central group, this southern group of Slavs was divided under
four crowns, Hungary, Austria, Montenegro, and Serbia; but, in spite of
the fact that half belong to the Western and half to the Eastern Church,
they are all essentially the same people, though with considerable
infusion of non-Slavonic blood, there being a good deal of Turkish blood
in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The languages, however, are practically
identical, formed largely of pure Slavonic materials, and, curiously,
much more closely connected with the eastern Slav group--Russia and
Little Russia--than with the central group, Polish and Bohemian. A
Russian of Moscow will find it much easier to understand a Slovene from
Goritzia than a Pole from Warsaw. The Ruthenians in southern Galicia and
Bukowina, are identical in race and speech with the Little Russians of
Ukrainia.
Of the central group, the Poles have generally inclined to Austria,
which has always supported the Polish landlords of Galicia against the
Ruthenian peasantry; while the Czechs have been not so much
anti-Austrian as anti-German. Indeed, the Hapsburg rulers have again and
again played these Slavs off against their German subjects. It was the
Southern Slav question as affecting Serbia and Austria, that gave the
pretext for the present war. The central Slav question affecting the
destiny of the Poles--was a bone of contention between Austria and
Germany. It is the custom to call the Southern Slavs "Jugoslavs" from
the Slav word Yugo, "south," but as this is a concession to German
transliteration, many prefer to write the word "Yugoslav," which
represents its pronunciation. The South Slav question was created by the
incursions of three Asiatic peoples--Huns, Magyars, Turks--who broke up
the originally continuous Slav territory that ran from the White Sea to
the confines of Greece and the Adriatic.
[Illustration: Map: Austria-Hungary and surrounding nations]
THE MIXTURE OF RACES IN SOUTH CENTRAL EUROPE.
[Illustration: Photograph of three soldiers firing artillery.]
Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
SERBS DEFENDING THE MOUNTAIN PASSES LEADING TO THEIR CAPITAL
Little Serbia, before she was overwhelmed by the concentrated force of
a mighty Teuton drive, and afterward, did some fighting that
astonished the world. The photo shows some of her artillery engaged in
holding back the enemy in the mountain regions near Nish.
[Illustration: A SCENE FROM EARLY TRENCH WARFARE. Painting shows German
soldiers defending a trench line on the left. British attackers are
approaching from the right. Several men are already dead in front of the
trench.]
From the woods in the background the British charge on an angle of the
German breastworks under cover of artillery and machine-gun fire. This
illustrates the early trench warfare before the development of the
elaborate concrete-protected structures the Germans later devised.
They can be seen wearing the famous spiked helmets which were later
replaced by steel ones.
This was the complex of nationalities, the ferment of races existing in
1914. Out of the hatreds engendered by the domination over the
liberty-loving Slavic peoples by an arrogant Teutonic minority grew the
assassinations at Sarajevo. These crimes were the expression of hatred
not for the heir apparent of Austria but for the Hapsburg and their
Germanic associates.
By a twist of the wheel of fate, the same Slavic peoples whose
determination to rid themselves of the Teutonic yoke, started the war,
also bore rather more than their share in the swift-moving events that
decided and closed the war.
Russia, the dying giant among the great nations, championed the Slavic
peoples at the beginning of the war. It entered the conflict in aid of
little Serbia, but at the end Russia bowed to Germany in the infamous
peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk. Thereafter during the last months of the
war Russia was virtually an ally of its ancient enemy, Turkey, the "Sick
Man of Europe," and the central German empires. With these allies the
Bolshevik government of Russia attempted to head off the Czecho-Slovak
regiments that had been captured by Russia during its drive into Austria
and had been imprisoned in Siberia. After the peace consummated at
Brest-Litovsk, these regiments determined to fight on the side of the
Allies and endeavored to make their way to the western front.
No war problems were more difficult than those of the Czecho-Slovaks.
Few have been handled so masterfully. Surrounded by powerful enemies
which for centuries have been bent on destroying every trace of Slavic
culture, they had learned how to defend themselves against every trick
or scheme of the brutal Germans.
The Czecho-Slovak plan in Russia was of great value to the Allies all
over the world, and was put at their service by Professor Thomas G.
Masaryk. He went to Russia when everything was adrift and got hold of
Bohemian prisoners here and there and organized them into a compact
little army of 50,000 to 60,000 men. Equipped and fed, he moved them to
whatever point had most power to thoroughly disrupt the German plans.
They did much to check the German army for months. They resolutely
refused to take any part in Russian political affairs, and when it
seemed no longer possible to work effectively in Russia this remarkable
little band started on a journey all round the world to get to the
western front. They loyally gave up most of their arms under agreement
with Lenine and Trotzky that they might peacefully proceed out of Russia
via Vladivostok.
While they were carrying out their part of the agreement, and well on
the way, they were surprised by telegrams from Lenine and Trotzky to the
Soviets in Siberia ordering them to take away their arms and intern
them.
The story of what occurred then was told by two American engineers,
Emerson and Hawkins, who, on the way to Ambassador Francis, and not
being able to reach Vologda, joined a band of four or five thousand. The
engineers were with them three months, while they were making it safe
along the lines of the railroad for the rest of the Czecho-Slovaks to
get out, and incidentally for Siberians to resume peaceful occupations.
They were also supported by old railway organizations which had stuck
bravely to them without wages and which every little while were "shot
up" by the Bolsheviki.
Distress in Russia would have been much more intense had it not been for
the loyalty of the railway men in sticking to their tasks. Some American
engineers at Irkutsk, on a peaceful journey out of Russia, on descending
from the cars were met with a demand to surrender, and shots from
machine guns. Some, fortunately, had kept hand grenades, and with these
and a few rifles went straight at the machine guns. Although
outnumbered, the attackers took the guns and soon afterward took the
town. The Czecho-Slovaks, in the beginning almost unarmed, went against
great odds and won for themselves the right to be considered a nation.
Seeing the treachery of Lenine and Trotzky, they went back toward the
west and made things secure for their men left behind. They took town
after town with the arms they first took away from the Bolsheviki and
Germans; but in every town they immediately set up a government, with
all the elements of normal life. They established police and sanitary
systems, opened hospitals, and had roads repaired, leaving a handful of
men in the midst of enemies to carry on the plans of their leaders.
American engineers speaking of the cleanliness of the Czecho-Slovak
army, said that they lived like Spartans.
The whole story is a remarkable evidence of the struggle of these little
people for self-government.
The emergence of the Czecho-Slovak nation has been one of the most
remarkable and noteworthy features of the war. Out of the confusion of
the situation, with the possibility of the resurrection of oppressed
peoples, something of the dignity of old Bohemia was comprehended, and
it was recognized that the Czechs were to be rescued from Austria and
the Slovaks from Hungary, and united in one country with entire
independence. This was undoubtedly due, in large measure, to the
activities of Professor Masaryk, the president of the National Executive
Council of the Czecho-Slovaks. His four-year exile in the United States
had the establishment of the new nation as its fruit.
Professor Masaryk called attention to the fact that there is a peculiar
discrepancy between the number of states in Europe and the number of
nationalities--twenty-seven states to seventy nationalities. He
explained, also, that almost all the states are mixed, from the point of
nationality. From the west of Europe to the east, this is found to be
true, and the farther east one goes the more mixed do the states become.
Austria is the most mixed of all the states. There is no Austrian
language, but there are nine languages, and six smaller nations or
remnants of nations. In all of Germany there are eight nationalities
besides the Germans, who have been independent, and who have their own
literature. Turkey is an anomaly, a combination of various nations
overthrown and kept down.
Since the eighteenth century there has been a continuing strong movement
from each nation to have its own state. Because of the mixed peoples,
there is much confusion. There are Roumanians in Austria, but there is a
kingdom of Roumania. There are Southern Slavs, but there are also Serbia
and Montenegro. It is natural that the Southern Slavs should want to be
united as one state. So it is with Italy.
There was no justice in Poland being separated in three parts to serve
the dynasties of Prussia, Russia and Austria. The Czecho-Slovaks of
Austria and Hungary claimed a union. The national union consists in an
endeavor to make the suppressed nations free, to unite them in their own
states, and to readjust the states that exist; to force Austria and
Prussia to give up the states that should be free.
In the future, said Doctor Masaryk, there are to be sharp ethnological
boundaries. The Czecho-Slovaks will guarantee the minorities absolute
equality, but they will keep the German part of their country, because
there are many Bohemians in it and they do not trust the Germans.
CHAPTER IV
THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES
One factor alone caused the great war. It was not the assassination at
Sarajevo, not the Slavic ferment of anti-Teutonism in Austria and the
Balkans. The only cause of the world's greatest war was the
determination of the German High Command and the powerful circle
surrounding it that "Der Tag" had arrived. The assassination at Sarajevo
was only the peg for the pendant of war. Another peg would have been
found inevitably had not the projection of that assassination presented
itself as the excuse.
Germany's military machine was ready. A gray-green uniform that at a
distance would fade into misty obscurity had been devised after
exhaustive experiments by optical, dye and cloth experts co-operating
with the military high command. These uniforms had been standardized and
fitted for the millions of men enrolled in Germany's regular and reserve
armies. Rifles, great pyramids of munitions, field kitchens, traveling
post-offices, motor lorries, a network of military railways leading to
the French and Belgian border, all these and more had been made ready.
German soldiers had received instructions which enabled each man at a
signal to go to an appointed place where he found everything in
readiness for his long forced marches into the territory of Germany's
neighbors.
More than all this, Germany's spy system, the most elaborate and
unscrupulous in the history of mankind, had enabled the German High
Command to construct in advance of the declaration of war concrete gun
emplacements in Belgium and other invaded territory. The cellars of
dwellings and shops rented or owned by German spies were camouflaged
concrete foundations for the great guns of Austria and Germany. These
emplacements were in exactly the right position for use against the
fortresses of Germany's foes. Advertisements and shop-signs were used by
spies as guides for the marching German armies of invasion.
[Illustration: Painting of KAISER WILLIAM II.]
Copyright Press Illustrating Service.
KAISER WILLIAM II OF GERMANY
Posterity will regard him as more responsible than any other human
being for the sacrifice of millions of lives in the great war, as a
ruler who might have been beneficent and wise, but attempted to
destroy the liberties of mankind and to raise on their ruins an odious
despotism. To forgive him and to forget his terrible transgressions
would be to condone them.
[Illustration: Men marching past a band.]
Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N, Y.
FRANCIS JOSEPH I OF AUSTRIA, THE "OLD EMPEROR," ON A STATE OCCASION.
Francis Joseph died before the war had settled the fate of the
Hapsburgs. The end came on November 21, 1916, in the sixty-eighth year
of his reign. His life was tragic. He lived to see his brother
executed, his Queen assassinated, and his only son a suicide, with
always before him the specter of the disintegration of his many-raced
empire.
In brief, Germany had planned for war. She was approximately ready for
it. Under the shelter of such high-sounding phrases as "We demand our
place in the sun," and "The seas must be free," the German people were
educated into the belief that the hour of Germany's destiny was at hand.
[Illustration: Map of Africa.]
GERMANY'S POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA PRIOR TO 1914
German psychologists, like other German scientists, had co-operated with
the imperial militaristic government for many years to bring the
Germanic mind into a condition of docility. So well did they understand
the mentality and the trends of character of the German people that it
was comparatively easy to impose upon them a militaristic system and
philosophy by which the individual yielded countless personal liberties
for the alleged good of the state. Rigorous and compulsory military
service, unquestioning adherence to the doctrine that might makes right
and a cession to "the All-Highest," as the Emperor was styled, of
supreme powers in the state, are some of the sufferances to which the
German people submitted.
German propaganda abroad was quite as vigorous as at home, but
infinitely less successful. The German High Command did not expect
England to enter the war. It counted upon America's neutrality with a
leaning toward Germany. It believed that German colonization in South
Africa and South America would incline these vast domains toward
friendship for the Central empires. How mistaken the propagandists and
psychologists were events have demonstrated.
It was this dream of world-domination by Teutonic kultur that supplied
the motive leading to the world's greatest war. Bosnia, an unwilling
province of Austria-Hungary, at one time a province of Serbia and
overwhelmingly Slavic in its population, had been seething for years
with an anti-Teutonic ferment. The Teutonic court at Vienna, leading the
minority Germanic party in Austria-Hungary, had been endeavoring to
allay the agitation among the Bosnian Slavs. In pursuance of that
policy, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the thrones of
Austria and Hungary, and his morganatic wife, Sophia Chotek, Duchess of
Hohenberg, on June 28, 1914, visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. On
the morning of that day, while they were being driven through the narrow
streets of the ancient town, a bomb was thrown at them, but they were
uninjured. They were driven through the streets again in the afternoon,
for purpose of public display. A student, just out of his 'teens, one
Gavrilo Prinzep, attacked the royal party with a magazine pistol and
killed both the Archduke and his wife.
Here was the excuse for which Germany had waited. Here was the dawn of
"The Day." The Germanic court of Austria asserted that the crime was the
result of a conspiracy, leading directly to the Slavic court of Serbia.
The Serbians in their turn declared that they knew nothing of the
assassination. They pointed out the fact that Sophia Chotek was a Slav,
and that Francis Ferdinand was more liberal than any other member of the
Austrian royal household, and finally, that he, more than any other
member of the Austrian court, understood and respected the Slavic
character and aspirations.
At six o'clock on the evening of July 23d, Austria sent an ultimatum to
Serbia, presenting eleven demands and stipulating that categorical
replies must be delivered before six o'clock on the evening of July
25th. Although the language in which the ultimatum was couched was
humiliating to Serbia, the answer was duly delivered within the
stipulated time.
The demands of the Austrian note in brief were as follows:
1. The Serbian Government to give formal assurance of its condemnation
of Serb propaganda against Austria.
2. The next issue of the Serbian "Official Journal" was to contain a
declaration to that effect.
3. This declaration to express regret that Serbian officers had taken
part in the propaganda.
4. The Serbian Government to promise that it would proceed rigorously
against all guilty of such activity.
5. This declaration to be at once communicated by the King of Serbia to
his army, and to be published in the official bulletin as an order of
the day.
6. All anti-Austrian publications in Serbia to be suppressed.
7. The Serbian political party known as the "National Union" to be
suppressed, and its means of propaganda to be confiscated.
8. All anti-Austrian teaching in the schools of Serbia to be suppressed.
9. All officers, civil and military, who might be designated by Austria
as guilty of anti-Austrian propaganda to be dismissed by the Serbian
Government.
10. Austrian agents to co-operate with the Serbian Government in
suppressing all anti-Austrian propaganda, and to take part in the
judicial proceedings conducted in Serbia against those charged with
complicity in the crime at Sarajevo.
11. Serbia to explain to Austria the meaning of anti-Austrian utterances
of Serbian officials at home and abroad, since the assassination.
To the first and second demands Serbia unhesitatingly assented. To the
third demand, Serbia assented, although no evidence was given to show
that Serbian officers had taken part in the propaganda.
The Serbian Government assented to the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and
eighth demands also.
Extraordinary as was the ninth demand, which would allow the Austrian
Government to proscribe Serbian officials, so eager for peace and
friendship was the Serbian Government that it assented to it, with the
stipulation that the Austrian Government should offer some proof of the
guilt of the proscribed officers.
The tenth demand, which in effect allowed Austrian agents to control the
police and courts of Serbia, it was not possible for Serbia to accept
without abrogating her sovereignty. However, it was not unconditionally
rejected, but the Serbian Government asked that it be made the subject
of further discussion, or be referred to arbitration. The Serbian
Government assented to the eleventh demand, on the condition that if the
explanations which would be given concerning the alleged anti-Austrian
utterances of Serbian officials would not prove satisfactory to the
Austrian Government, the matter should be submitted to mediation or
arbitration.
Behind the threat conveyed in the Austrian ultimatum was the menacing
figure of militant Germany. The veil that had hitherto concealed the
hands that worked the string, was removed when Germany, under the
pretense of localizing the quarrel to Serbian and Austrian soil,
interrogated France and England, asking them to prevent Russia from
defending Serbia in the event of an attack by Austria upon the Serbs.
England and France promptly refused to participate in a tragedy which
would deliver Serbia to Austria as Bosnia had been delivered. Russia,
bound by race and creed to Serbia, read into the ultimatum of Teutonic
kultur a determination for warfare. Mobilization of the Russian forces
along the Austrian frontier was arranged, when it was seen that Serbia's
pacific reply to Austria's demands would be contemptuously disregarded
by Germany and Austria.
During the days that intervened between the issuance of the ultimatum
and the actual declaration of war by Germany against Russia on Saturday,
August 1st, various sincere efforts were made to stave off the
world-shaking catastrophe. Arranged chronologically, these events may
thus be summarized: Russia, on July 24th, formally asked Austria if she
intended to annex Serbian territory by way of reprisal for the
assassination at Sarajevo. On the same day Austria replied that it had
no present intention to make such annexation. Russia then requested an
extension of the forty-eight-hour time-limit named in the ultimatum.
Austria, on the morning of Saturday, July 25th, refused Russia's request
for an extension of the period named in the ultimatum. On the same day,
the newspapers published in Petrograd printed an official note issued by
the Russian Government warning Europe generally that Russia would not
remain indifferent to the fate of Serbia. These newspapers also printed
the appeal of the Serbian Crown Prince to the Czar dated on the
preceding day, urging that Russia come to the rescue of the menaced
Serbs. Serbia's peaceful reply surrendering on all points except one,
and agreeing to submit that to arbitration, was sent late in the
afternoon of the same day, and that night Austria declared the reply to
be unsatisfactory and withdrew its minister from Belgrade.
England commenced its attempts at pacification on the following day,
Sunday, July 26th. Sir Edward Grey spent the entire Sabbath in the
Foreign Office and personally conducted the correspondence that was
calculated to bring the dispute to a peaceful conclusion. He did not
reckon, however, with a Germany determined upon war, a Germany whose
manufacturers, ship-owners and Junkers had combined with its militarists
to achieve "Germany's place in the sun" even though the world would be
stained in the blood of the most frightful war this earth has ever
known. Realization of this fact did not come to Sir Edward Grey until
his negotiations with Germany and with Austria-Hungary had proceeded for
some time. His first suggestion was that the dispute between Russia and
Austria be committed to the arbitration of Great Britain, France, Italy
and Germany. Russia accepted this but Germany and Austria rejected it.
Russia had previously suggested that the dispute be settled by a
conference between the diplomatic heads at Vienna and Petrograd. This
also was refused by Austria.
Sir Edward Grey renewed his efforts on Monday, July 27th, with an
invitation to Germany to present suggestions of its own, looking toward
a settlement. This note was never answered. Germany took the position
that its proposition to compel Russia to stand aside while Austria
punished Serbia had been rejected by England and France and it had
nothing further to propose.
During all this period of negotiation the German Foreign Office, to all
outward appearances at least, had been acting independently of the
Kaiser, who was in Norway on a vacation trip. He returned to Potsdam on
the night of Sunday, July 26th. On Monday morning the Czar of Russia
received a personal message from the Kaiser, urging Russia to stand
aside that Serbia might be punished. The Czar immediately replied with
the suggestion that the whole matter be submitted to The Hague. No reply
of any kind was ever made to this proposal by Germany.
[Illustration: THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION IN 1815 (Map: Baltic Sea on the
North, Adriatic Sea on the South, Eastern France and Belgium on the
West, Poland on the East.)]
All suggestions and negotiations looking forward to peace were brought
to a tragic end on the following day, Tuesday, July 28th, when Austria
declared war on Serbia, having speedily mobilized troops at strategic
points on the Serbian border. Russian mobilization, which had been
proceeding only in a tentative way, on the Austrian border, now became
general, and on July 30th, mobilization of the entire Russian army was
proclaimed.
Germany's effort to exclude England from the war began on Thursday, July
29th. A note, sounding Sir Edward Grey on the question of British
neutrality in the event of war was received, and a curt refusal to
commit the British Empire to such a proposal was the reply. Sir Edward
Grey, in a last determined effort to avoid a world-war, suggested to
Germany, Austria, Serbia and Russia that the military operations
commenced by Austria should be recognized as merely a punitive
expedition. He further suggested that when a point in Serbian territory
previously fixed upon should have been reached, Austria would halt and
would submit her further action to arbitration in the conference of the
Powers. Russia and Serbia agreed unreservedly to this proposition.
Austria gave a half-hearted assent to the principle involved. Germany
made no reply.
The die was cast for war on the following day, July 31st, when Germany
made a dictatorial and arrogant demand upon Russia that mobilization of
that nation's military forces be stopped within twelve hours. Russia
made no reply, and on Saturday, August 1st, Germany set the world aflame
with the dread of war's horror by her declaration of war upon Russia.
Germany's responsibility for this monumental crime against the peace of
the world is eternally fixed upon her, not only by these outward and
visible acts and negotiations, not only by her years of patient
preparation for the war into which she plunged the world. The
responsibility is fastened upon her forever by the revelations of her
own ambassador to England during this fateful period. Prince Lichnowsky,
in a remarkable communication which was given to the world, laid bare
the machinations of the German High Command and its advisers. He was a
guest of the Kaiser at Kiel on board the Imperial yacht Meteor when the
message was received informing the Kaiser of the assassination at
Sarajevo. His story continues:
Being unacquainted with the Vienna viewpoint and what was going on
there, I attached no very far-reaching significance to the event; but,
looking back, I could feel sure that in the Austrian aristocracy a
feeling of relief outweighed all others. His Majesty regretted that his
efforts to win over the Archduke to his ideas had thus been frustrated
by the Archduke's assassination.
I went on to Berlin and saw the Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg. I told
him that I regarded our foreign situation as very satisfactory as it was
a long time indeed since we had stood so well with England. And in
France there was a pacifist cabinet. Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg did not
seem to share my optimism.
He complained of the Russian armaments. I tried to tranquilize him with
the argument that it was not to Russia's interest to attack us, and that
such an attack would never have English or French support, as both
countries wanted peace.
I went from him to Dr. Zimmermann (the under Secretary) who was acting
for Herr von Jagow (the Foreign Secretary), and learned from him that
Russia was about to call up nine hundred thousand new troops. His words
unmistakably denoted ill-humor against Russia, who, he said, stood
everywhere in our way. In addition, there were questions of commercial
policy that had to be settled. That General von Moltke was urging war
was, of course, not told to me. I learned, however, that Herr von
Tschirschky (the German Ambassador in Vienna) had been reproved because
he said that he had advised Vienna to show moderation toward Serbia.
Prince Lichnowsky went to his summer home in Silesia, quite unaware of the
impending crisis. He continues:
When I returned from Silesia on my way to London, I stopped only a few
hours in Berlin, where I heard that Austria intended to proceed against
Serbia so as to bring to an end an unbearable state of affairs.
Unfortunately, I failed at the moment to gauge the significance of the
news. I thought that once more it would come to nothing; that even if
Russia acted threateningly, the matter could soon be settled. I now
regret that I did not stay in Berlin and declare there and then that I
would have no hand in such a policy.
There was a meeting in Potsdam, as early as July 5th, between the German
and Austrian authorities, at which meeting war was decided on. Prince
Lichnowsky says:
I learned afterwards that at the decisive discussion at Potsdam on July
5th the Austrian demand had met with the unconditional approval of all
the personages in authority; it was even added that no harm would be
done if war with Russia did come out of it. It was so stated at least in
the Austrian report received at London by Count Mensdorff (the Austrian
Ambassador to England).
At this point I received instructions to endeavor to bring the English
press to a friendly attitude in case Austria should deal the death-blow
to "Greater-Serbian" hopes. I was to use all my influence to prevent
public opinion in England from taking a stand against Austria. I
remembered England's attitude during the Bosnian annexation crisis, when
public opinion showed itself in sympathy with the Serbian claims to
Bosnia; I recalled also the benevolent promotion of nationalist hopes
that went on in the days of Lord Byron and Garibaldi; and on these and
other grounds I thought it extremely unlikely that English public
opinion would support a punitive expedition against the Archduke's
murderers. I thus felt it my duty to enter an urgent warning against the
whole project, which I characterized as venturesome and dangerous, I
recommended that counsels of moderation he given Austria, as I did not
believe that the conflict could be localized (that is to say, it could
not be limited to a war between Austria and Serbia).
[Illustration: Photographs of Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg and Prince
Maximilian.]
Photos from International Film Service.
THE GERMAN CHANCELLORS
On the right is Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg who is held responsible
in large measure for bringing on the war. On the left is Prince
Maximilian of Baden, the Kaiser's camouflage chancellor who was
appointed in a vain attempt to fool the American people into thinking
that a democratic government had been set up in Germany.
[Illustration: Photograph of ex-Emperor Charles and ex-Empress Zita.]
Copyright Press Illustrating Service. THE DEPOSED RULERS OF
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY The ex-Emperor Charles and his wife, the ex-Empress
Zita, in deep conversation with Hungarian leaders who are explaining
the distressing situation confronting the country.
Herr von Jagow answered me that Russia was not prepared; that there
would be more or less of a rumpus; but that the more firmly we stood by
Austria, the more surely would Russia give way. Austria was already
blaming us for flabbiness and we could not flinch. On the other hand,
Russian sentiment was growing more unfriendly all the time, and we must
simply take the risk. I subsequently learned that this attitude was
based on advices from Count Pourtales (the German Ambassador in
Petrograd), that Russia would not stir under any circumstances;
information which prompted us to spur Count Berchtold on in his course.
On learning the attitude of the German Government I looked for salvation
through English mediation, knowing that Sir Edward Grey's influence in
Petrograd could be used in the cause of peace. I, therefore, availed
myself of my friendly relations with the Minister to ask him
confidentially to advise moderation in Russia in case Austria demanded
satisfaction from the Serbians, as it seemed likely she would.
The English press was quiet at first, and friendly to Austria, the
assassination being generally condemned. By degrees, however, more and
more voices made themselves heard, in the sense that, however necessary
it might be to take cognizance of the crime, any exploitation of it for
political ends was unjustifiable. Moderation was enjoined upon Austria.
When the ultimatum came out, all the papers, with the exception of the
Standard, were unanimous in condemning it. The whole world, outside of
Berlin and Vienna, realized that it meant war, and a world war too. The
English fleet, which happened to have been holding a naval review, was
not demobilized.
The British Government labored to make the Serbian reply conciliatory,
and "the Serbian answer was in keeping with the British efforts." Sir
Edward Grey then proposed his plan of mediation upon the two points
which Serbia had not wholly conceded. Prince Lichnowsky writes:
M. Cambon (for France), Marquis Imperiali (for Italy), and I were to
meet, with Sir Edward in the chair, and it would have been easy to work
out a formula for the debated points, which had to do with the
co-operation of imperial and royal officials in the inquiries to be
conducted at Belgrade. By the exercise of good will everything could
have been settled in one or two sittings, and the mere acceptance of the
British proposal would have relieved the strain and further improved our
relations with England. I seconded this plan with all my energies. In
vain. I was told (by Berlin) that it would be against the dignity of
Austria. Of course, all that was needed was one hint from Berlin to
Count Berchtold (the Austrian Foreign Minister); he would have satisfied
himself with a diplomatic triumph and rested on the Serbian answer. That
hint was never given. On the contrary, pressure was brought in favor of
war....
After our refusal Sir Edward asked us to come forward with our proposal.
We insisted on war. No other answer could I get (from Berlin) than that
it was a colossal condescension on the part of Austria not to
contemplate any acquisition of territory. Sir Edward justly pointed out
that one could reduce a country to vassalage without acquiring
territory; that Russia would see this, and regard it as a humiliation
not to be put up with. The impression grew stronger and stronger that we
were bent on war. Otherwise our attitude toward a question in which we
were not directly concerned was incomprehensible. The insistent requests
and well-defined declarations of M. Sasanof, the Czar's positively
humble telegrams, Sir Edward's repeated proposals, the warnings of
Marquis San Guiliano and of Bollati, my own pressing admonitions were
all of no avail. Berlin remained inflexible--Serbia must be slaughtered.
Then, on the 29th, Sir Edward decided upon his well-known warning. I
told him I had always reported (to Berlin) that we should have to reckon
with English opposition if it came to a war with France. Time and again
the Minister said to me, "If war breaks out it will be the greatest
catastrophe the world has ever seen." And now events moved rapidly.
Count Berchtold at last decided to come around, having up to that point
played the role of "Strong man" under guidance of Berlin. Thereupon we
(in answer to Russia's mobilization) sent our ultimatum and declaration
of war--after Russia had spent a whole week in fruitless negotiation and
waiting.
Thus ended my mission in London. It had suffered shipwreck, not on the
wiles of the Briton but on the wiles of our own policy. Were not those
right who saw that the German people was pervaded with the spirit of
Treitschke and Bernhardi, which glorifies war as an end instead of
holding it in abhorrence as an evil thing? Properly speaking militarism
is a school for the people and an instrument to further political ends.
But in the patriarchal absolutism of a military monarchy, militarism
exploits politics to further its own ends, and can create a situation
which a democracy freed from junkerdom would not tolerate.
That is what our enemies think; that is what they are bound to think
when they see that in spite of capitalistic industrialism, and in spite
of socialistic organizations, the living, as Nietzsche said, are still
ruled by the dead. The democratization of Germany, the first war aim
proposed by our enemies, will become a reality.
This is the frank statement of a great German statesman made long before
Germany received its knock-out blow. It was written when Germany was
sweeping all before it on land, and when the U-boat was at the height of
its murderous powers on the high seas. No one in nor out of Germany has
controverted any of its statements and it will forever remain as one of
the counts in the indictment against Germany and the sole cause of the
world's greatest misery, the war.
America's outstanding authority on matters of international conduct,
former Secretary of State Elihu Root declared that the World War was a
mighty and all-embracing struggle between two conflicting principles of
human right and human duty; it was a conflict between the divine right
of kings to govern mankind through armies and nobles, and the right of
the peoples of the earth who toil and endure and aspire to govern
themselves by law under justice, and in the freedom of individual
manhood.
After the declaration of war against Russia by Germany, events marched
rapidly and inevitably toward the general conflagration. Germany's most
strenuous efforts were directed toward keeping England out of the
conflict. We have seen in the revelations of Prince Lichnowsky how eager
was England to divert Germany's murderous purpose. There are some
details, however, required to fill in the diplomatic picture.
President Poincare, of the French Republic, on July 30th, asked the
British Ambassador in Paris for an assurance of British support. On the
following day he addressed a similar letter to King George of England.
Both requests were qualifiedly refused on the ground that England wished
to be free to continue negotiations with Germany for the purpose of
averting the war. In the meantime, the German Government addressed a
note to England offering guarantees for Belgian integrity, providing
Belgium did not side with France, offering to respect the neutrality of
Holland and giving assurance that no French territory in Europe would be
annexed if Germany won the war. Sir Edward Grey described this as a
"shameful proposal," and rejected it on July 30th.
On July 31st England sent a note to France and Germany asking for a
statement of purpose concerning Belgian neutrality. France immediately
announced that it would respect the treaty of 1839 and its reaffirmation
in 1870 guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality. This treaty was entered into
by Germany, England, France, Austria and Russia. Germany's reply on
August 1st was a proposal that she would respect the neutrality of
Belgium if England would stay out of the war. This was promptly
declined. On August 2d the British cabinet agreed that if the German
fleet attempted to attack the coast of France the British fleet would
intervene. Germany, the next day, sent a note agreeing to refrain from
naval attacks on France provided England would remain neutral, but
declined to commit herself as to the neutrality of Belgium. Before this,
however, on August 2d, Germany had announced to Belgium its intention to
enter Belgium for the purpose of attacking France. The Belgian Minister
in London made an appeal to the British Foreign Office and was informed
that invasion of Belgium by Germany would be followed by England's
declaration of war. Monday, August 3d, was signalized by Belgium's
declaration of its neutrality and its firm purpose to defend its soil
against invasion by France, England, Germany or any other nation.
The actual invasion of Belgium commenced on the morning of August 4th,
when twelve regiments of Uhlans crossed the frontier near Vise, and came
in contact with a Belgian force driving it back upon Liege. King Albert
of Belgium promptly appealed to England, Russia and France for aid in
repelling the invader. England sent an ultimatum to Germany fixing
midnight of August 4th as the time for expiration of the ultimatum. This
demanded that satisfactory assurances be furnished immediately that
Germany would respect the neutrality of Belgium. No reply was made by
Germany and England's declaration of war followed.
Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg, of the German Empire, wrote Germany's
infamy into history when, in a formal statement, he acknowledged that
the invasion of Belgium was "a wrong that we will try to make good again
as soon as our military ends have been reached." To Sir Edward Vochen,
British Ambassador to Germany, he addressed the inquiry: "Is it the
purpose of your country to make war upon Germany for the sake of a scrap
of paper?" The treaty of 1839-1870 guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality was
the scrap of paper.
[Illustration: Photographs]
KING ALBERT I, QUEEN ELIZABETH, THE HEROIC RULERS OF BELGIUM
[Illustration: Photograph showing bombed out shells of buildings. In the
foreground a building has been leveled to the ground.]
Copyright International News Service.
THE RED RUINS OF YPRES
Ypres, the British soldiers "Wipers," was the scene of much of the
bloodiest fighting of the war. Three great battles were fought for its
possession. The photograph shows what was once the market place.
With the entrance of England into the war, the issue between autocracy
and democracy was made plain before the people of the world. Austria,
and later Turkey, joined with Germany; France, and Japan, by reason of
their respective treaty obligations joined England and Russia. Italy for
the time preferred to remain neutral, ignoring her implied alliance with
the Teutonic empires. How other nations lined up on the one side and the
other is indicated by the State Department's list of war declarations,
and diplomatic severances, which follows:
Austria against Belgium, Aug. 28, 1914.
Austria against Japan, Aug. 27, 1914.
Austria against Montenegro, Aug. 9, 1914.
Austria against Russia, Aug. 6, 1914.
Austria against Serbia, July 28, 1914.
Belgium against Germany, Aug. 4, 1914.
Brazil against Germany, Oct. 26, 1917.
Bulgaria against Serbia, Oct. 14, 1915.
China against Austria, Aug. 14, 1917.
China against Germany, Aug. 14, 1917.
Costa Rica against Germany, May 23, 1918.
Cuba against Germany, April 7, 1917.
Cuba against Austria-Hungary, Dec. 16, 1917.
France against Austria, Aug. 13, 1914.
France against Bulgaria, Oct. 16, 1915.
France against Germany, Aug. 3, 1914.
France against Turkey, Nov. 5, 1914.
Germany against Belgium, Aug. 4, 1914.
Germany against France, Aug. 3, 1914.
Germany against Portugal, March 9, 1916.
Germany against Roumania, Sept. 14, 1916.
Germany against Russia, Aug. 1, 1914.
Great Britain against Austria, Aug. 13, 1914.
Great Britain against Bulgaria, Oct. 15, 1915.
Great Britain against Germany, Aug. 4, 1914.
Great Britain against Turkey, Nov. 5, 1914.
Greece against Bulgaria, Nov. 28, 1916. (Provisional Government.)
Greece against Bulgaria, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.)
Greece against Germany, Nov. 28, 1916. (Provisional Government.)
Greece against Germany, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.)
Guatemala against Germany and Austria-Hungary, April 22, 1918.
Haiti against Germany, July 15, 1918.
Honduras against Germany, July 19, 1918.
Italy against Austria, May 24, 1915.
Italy against Bulgaria, Oct. 19, 1915.
Italy against Germany, Aug. 28, 1916.
Italy against Turkey, Aug. 21, 1915.
Japan against Germany, Aug. 23, 1914.
Liberia against Germany, Aug. 4, 1917.
Montenegro against Austria, Aug. 8, 1914.
Montenegro against Germany, Aug. 9, 1914.
Nicaragua against Germany, May 24, 1918.
Panama against Germany, April 7,1917.
Panama against Austria, Dec. 10, 1917.
Portugal against Germany, Nov. 23, 1914. (Resolution passed authorizing
military intervention as ally
of England)
Portugal against Germany, May 19, 1915. (Military aid granted.)
Roumania against Austria, Aug. 27, 1916. (Allies of Austria also
consider it a declaration.)
Russia against Germany, Aug. 7, 1914.
Russia against Bulgaria, Oct. 19, 1915.
Russia against Turkey, Nov. 3, 1914.
San Marino against Austria, May 24, 1915.
Serbia against Bulgaria, Oct. 16, 1915.
Serbia against Germany, Aug. 6, 1914.
Serbia against Turkey, Dec. 2, 1914.
Siam against Austria, July 22, 1917.
Siam against Germany, July 22, 1917.
Turkey against Allies, Nov. 23, 1914.
Turkey against Roumania, Aug. 29, 1916.
United States against Germany, April 6, 1917.
United States against Austria-Hungary, Dec. 7, 1917.
SEVERANCE OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
The Nations that formally severed relations whether afterward declaring
war or not, are as follows:
Austria against Japan, Aug. 26, 1914.
Austria against Portugal, March 16, 1916.
Austria against Serbia, July 26, 1914.
Austria against United States, April 8, 1917.
Bolivia against Germany, April 14, 1917.
Brazil against Germany, April 11, 1917.
China against Germany, March 14, 1917.
Costa Rica against Germany, Sept. 21, 1917.
Ecuador against Germany, Dec. 7, 1917.
Egypt against Germany, Aug. 13, 1914.
France against Austria, Aug. 10, 1914.
Greece against Turkey, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.)
Greece against Austria, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.)
Guatemala against Germany, April 27,1917.
Haiti against Germany, June 17, 1917.
Honduras against Germany, May 17, 1917.
Nicaragua against Germany, May 18, 1917.
Peru against Germany, Oct. 6, 1917.
Santo Domingo against Germany, June 8, 1917.
Turkey against United States, April 20, 1917.
United States against Germany, Feb. 3,1917.
Uruguay against Germany, Oct. 7, 1917.
CHAPTER V
THE GREAT WAR BEGINS
Years before 1914, when Germany declared war against civilization, it
was decided by the German General Staff to strike at France through
Belgium. The records of the German Foreign Office prove that fact. The
reason for this lay in the long line of powerful fortresses along the
line that divides France from Germany and the sparsely spaced and
comparatively out-of-date forts on the border between Germany and
Belgium. True, there was a treaty guaranteeing the inviolability of
Belgian territory to which Germany was a signatory party. Some of the
clauses of that treaty were:
Article 9. Belgium, within the limits traced in conformity with the
principles laid down in the present preliminaries, shall form a
perpetually neutral state. The five powers (England, France, Austria,
Prussia and Russia), without wishing to intervene in the internal
affairs of Belgium, guarantee her that perpetual neutrality as well as
the integrity and inviolability of her territory in the limits mentioned
in the present article.
Article 10. By just reciprocity Belgium shall be held to observe this
same neutrality toward all the other states and to make no attack on
their internal or external tranquillity while always preserving the
right to defend herself against any foreign aggression.
This agreement was followed on January 23, 1839, by a definitive treaty,
accepted by Belgium and by the Netherlands, which treaty regulates
Belgium's neutrality as follows:
Article 7. Belgium, within the limits defined in Articles 1, 2 and 4
shall form an independent and perpetually neutral state. She is
obligated to preserve this neutrality against all the other states.
To convert this solemn covenant into a "scrap of paper" it was necessary
that Germany should find an excuse for tearing it to pieces. There was
absolutely no provocation in sight, but that did not deter the German
High Command. That august body with no information whatever to afford an
excuse, alleged in a formal note to the Belgian Government that the
French army intended to invade Germany through Belgian territory. This
hypocritical and mendacious note and Belgium's vigorous reply follow:
Note handed in on August 2, 1914, at 7 o'clock P. M., by Herr von
Below-Saleske, German Minister, to M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for
Foreign Affairs.
BRUSSELS, 2d August, 1914.
IMPERIAL GERMAN LEGATION IN BELGIUM
(Highly confidential)
The German Government has received reliable information according to
which the French forces intend to march on the Meuse, by way of Givet
and Namur. This information leaves no doubt as to the intention of
France of marching on Germany through Belgian territory. The Imperial
Government cannot avoid the fear that Belgium, in spite of its best
will, will be in no position to repulse such a largely developed French
march without aid. In this fact there is sufficient certainty of a
threat directed against Germany.
It is an imperative duty for the preservation of Germany to forestall
this attack of the enemy.
The German Government would feel keen regret if Belgium should regard as
an act of hostility against herself the fact that the measures of the
enemies of Germany oblige her on her part to violate Belgian territory.
In order to dissipate any misunderstanding the German Government
declares as follows:
1. Germany does not contemplate any act of hostility against Belgium. If
Belgium consents in the war about to commence to take up an attitude of
friendly neutrality toward Germany, the German Government on its part
undertakes, on the declaration of peace, to guarantee the kingdom and
its possessions in their whole extent.
2. Germany undertakes under the conditions laid down to evacuate Belgian
territory as soon as peace is concluded.
3. If Belgium preserves a friendly attitude, Germany is prepared, in
agreement with the authorities of the Belgian Government, to buy against
cash all that is required by her troops, and to give indemnity for the
damages caused in Belgium.
4. If Belgium behaves in a hostile manner toward the German troops, and
in particular raises difficulties against their advance by the
opposition of the fortifications of the Meuse, or by destroying roads,
railways, tunnels, or other engineering works, Germany will be compelled
to consider Belgium as an enemy.
In this case Germany will take no engagements toward Belgium, but she
will leave the later settlement of relations of the two states toward
one another to the decision of arms. The German Government has a
justified hope that this contingency will not arise and that the Belgian
Government will know how to take suitable measures to hinder its taking
place. In this case the friendly relations which unite the two
neighboring states will become closer and more lasting.
THE REPLY BY BELGIUM
Note handed in by M. Davignon, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Herr von
Below-Saleske, German Minister.
BRUSSELS, 3d August, 1914.
(7 o'clock in the morning.)
By the note of the 2d August, 1914, the German Government has made known
that according to certain intelligence the French forces intend to march
on the Meuse via Givet and Namur and that Belgium, in spite of her
good-will, would not be able without help to beat off an advance of the
French troops.
The German Government felt it to be its duty to forestall this attack
and to violate Belgian territory. Under these conditions Germany
proposes to the King's Government to take up a friendly attitude, and
undertakes at the moment of peace to guarantee the integrity of the
kingdom and of her possessions in their whole extent. The note adds that
if Belgium raises difficulties to the forward march of the German troops
Germany will be compelled to consider her as an enemy and to leave the
later settlement of the two states toward one another to the decision of
arms.
This note caused profound and painful surprise to the King's Government.
The intentions which it attributed to France are in contradiction with
the express declarations which were made to us on the 1st of August, in
the name of the government of the republic.
Moreover, if, contrary to our expectation, a violation of Belgian
neutrality were to be committed by France, Belgium would fulfil all her
international duties and her army would offer the most vigorous
opposition to the invader.
The treaties of 1839, confirmed by the treaties of 1870, establish the
independence and the neutrality of Belgium under the guarantee of the
powers, and particularly of the Government of his Majesty the King of
Prussia.
Belgium has always been faithful to her international obligations; she
has fulfilled her duties in a spirit of loyal impartiality; she has
neglected no effort to maintain her neutrality or to make it respected.
The attempt against her independence with which the German Government
threatens her would constitute a flagrant violation of international
law. No strategic interest justifies the violation of that law.
The Belgian Government would, by accepting the propositions which are
notified to her, sacrifice the honor of the nation while at the same
time betraying her duties toward Europe.
Conscious of the part Belgium has played for more than eighty years in
the civilization of the world, she refuses to believe that the
independence of Belgium can be preserved only at the expense of the
violation of her neutrality.
If this hope were disappointed the Belgian Government has firmly
resolved to repulse by every means in her power any attack upon her
rights.
The German attack upon Belgium and France came with terrible force and
suddenness. Twenty-four army corps, divided into three armies clad in a
specially designed and colored gray-green uniform, swept in three mighty
streams over the German borders with their objective the heart of
France. The Army of the Meuse was given the route through Liege, Namur
and Maubeuge. The Army of the Moselle violated the Duchy of Luxemburg,
which, under a treaty guaranteeing its independence and neutrality, was
not permitted to maintain an army. Germany was a signatory party to this
treaty also. The Army of the Rhine cut through the Vosges Mountains and
its route lay between the French cities of Nancy and Toul.
The heroic defense of the Belgian army at Liege against the Army of the
Meuse delayed the operation of Germany's plans and in all probability
saved Paris. It was the first of many similar disappointments and checks
that Germany encountered during the war.
The defense of Liege continued for ten heroic days. Within that interval
the first British Expeditionary Forces were landed in France and
Belgium, the French army was mobilized to full strength. The little
Belgian army falling back northward on Antwerp, Louvain and Brussels,
threatened the German flank and approximately 200,000 German soldiers
were compelled to remain in the conquered section of Belgium to garrison
it effectively.
Liege fortifications were the design of the celebrated strategist
Brialmont. They consisted of twelve isolated fortresses which had been
permitted to become out of repair. No field works of any kind connected
them and they were without provision for defense against encircling
tactics and against modern artillery.
The huge 42-centimeter guns, the first of Germany's terrible surprises,
were brought into action against these forts, and their concrete and
armored steel turrets were cracked as walnuts are cracked between the
jaws of a nut-cracker. The Army of the Meuse then made its way like a
gray-green cloud of poison gas through Belgium. A cavalry screen of
crack Uhlan regiments preceded it, and it made no halt worthy of note
until it confronted the Belgian army on the line running from Louvain to
Namur. The Belgians were forced back before Louvain on August 20th, the
Belgian Government removed the capital from Brussels to Antwerp, and the
German hosts entered evacuated Brussels.
During this advance of the Army of the Meuse, strong French detachments
invaded German soil, pouring into Alsace through the Belfort Gap. Brief
successes attended the bold stroke. Mulhausen was captured and the
Metz-Strassburg Railroad was cut in several places. The French suffered
a defeat almost immediately following this first flush of victory, both
in Alsace and in Lorraine, where a French detachment had engaged with
the Army of the Moselle. The French army thereupon retreated to the
strong line of forts and earthworks defending the border between France
and Germany.
England's first expeditionary force landed at Ostend, Calais and Dunkirk
on August 7th. It was dubbed England's "contemptible little army" by the
German General Staff. That name was seized upon gladly by England as a
spur to volunteering. It brought to the surface national pride and a
fierce determination to compel Germany to recognize and to reckon with
the "contemptible little army."
The contact between the French, Belgian and British forces was speedily
established and something like concerted resistance to the advance of
the enemy was made possible. The German army, however, followed by a
huge equipment of motor kitchens, munition trains, and other motor
transport evidencing great care in preparation for the movement, swept
resistlessly forward until it encountered the French and British on a
line running from Mons to Charleroi.
The British army was assigned to a position between two French armies.
By some miscalculation, the French army that was to have taken its
position on the British left, never appeared. The French army on the
right was attacked and defeated at Charleroi, falling back in some
confusion. The German Army of the Moselle co-operating with the Army of
the Meuse then attacked the British and French, and a great flanking
movement by the German joint commands developed.
This was directed mainly at the British under command of Sir John
French. There followed a retreat that for sheer heroism and dogged
determination has become one of the great battles of all time. The
British, outflanked and outnumbered three to one, fought and marched
without cessation for six days and nights. Time after time envelopment
and disaster threatened them, but with a determination that would not be
beaten they fought off the best that Germany could send against them,
maintained contact with the French army on their right, and delayed the
German advance so effectively that a complete disarrangement of all the
German plans ensued. This was the second great disappointment to
Germany. It made possible the victory of the Marne and the victorious
peace of 1918. The story of that immortal retreat is best told in the
words of Sir John French, transmitting the report of this encounter to
the British War Office:
"The transport of the troops from England both by sea and by rail was
effected in the best order and without a check. Each unit arrived at its
destination well within the scheduled time.
"The concentration was practically complete on the evening of Friday,
the 21st ultimo, and I was able to make dispositions to move the force
during Saturday, the 22d, to positions I considered most favorable from
which to commence operations which the French commander-in-chief,
General Joffre, requested me to undertake in pursuance of his plans in
prosecution of the campaign.
"The line taken up extended along the line of the canal from Conde on
the west, through Mons and Binche on the east. This line was taken up as
follows:
"From Conde to Mons, inclusive, was assigned to the Second Corps, and to
the right of the Second Corps from Mons the First Corps was posted. The
Fifth Cavalry Brigade was placed at Binche.
"In the absence of my Third Army Corps I desired to keep the cavalry
divisions as much as possible as a reserve to act on my outer flank, or
move in support of any threatened part of the line. The forward
reconnoissance was intrusted to Brig.-Gen. Sir Philip Chetwode, with the
Fifth Cavalry Brigade, but I directed General Allenby to send forward a
few squadrons to assist in this work.
"During the 22d and 23d these advanced squadrons did some excellent
work, some of them penetrating as far as Soignies, and several
encounters took place in which our troops showed to great advantage.
"2. At 6 A. M., on August 23d, I assembled the commanders of the First
and Second Corps and cavalry division at a point close to the position
and explained the general situation of the Allies, and what I understood
to be General Joffre's plan. I discussed with them at some length the
immediate situation in front of us.
"From information I received from French headquarters I understood that
little more than one, or at most two, of the enemy's army corps, with
perhaps one cavalry division, were in front of my position; and I was
aware of no attempted outflanking movement by the enemy. I was confirmed
in this opinion by the fact that my patrols encountered no undue
opposition in their reconnoitering operations. The observations of my
airplanes seemed to bear out this estimate.
"About 3 P. M. on Sunday, the 23d, reports began coming in to the effect
that the enemy was commencing an attack on the Mons line, apparently in
some strength, but that the right of the position from Mons and Bray was
being particularly threatened.
"The commander of the First Corps had pushed his flank back to some high
ground south of Bray, and the Fifth Cavalry Brigade evacuated Binche,
moving slightly south; the enemy thereupon occupied Binche.
"The right of the Third Division, under General Hamilton, was at Mons,
which formed a somewhat dangerous salient; and I directed the commander
of the Second Corps to be careful not to keep the troops on this salient
too long, but, if threatened seriously, to draw back the center behind
Mons. This was done before dark. In the meantime, about 5 P. M., I
received a most unexpected message from General Joffre by telegraph,
telling me that at least three German corps, viz., a reserve corps, the
Fourth Corps and the Ninth Corps, were moving on my position in front,
and that the Second Corps was engaged in a turning movement from the
direction of Tournay. He also informed me that the two reserve French
divisions and the Fifth French army on my right were retiring, the
Germans having on the previous day gained possession of the passages of
the Sambre, between Charleroi and Namur.
"3. In view of the possibility of my being driven from the Mons
position, I had previously ordered a position in rear to be
reconnoitered. This position rested on the fortress of Maubeuge on the
right and extended west to Jenlain, southeast to Valenciennes, on the
left. The position was reported difficult to hold, because standing
crops and buildings made the placing of trenches very difficult and
limited the field of fire in many important localities. It nevertheless
afforded a few good artillery positions.
"When the news of the retirement of the French and the heavy German
threatening on my front reached me, I endeavored to confirm it by
airplane reconnoissance; and as a result of this I determined to effect
a retirement to the Maubeuge position at daybreak on the 24th.
"A certain amount of fighting continued along the whole line throughout
the night and at daybreak on the 24th the Second Division from the
neighborhood of Harmignies made a powerful demonstration as if to retake
Binche. This was supported by the artillery of both the First and Second
Divisions, while the First Division took up a supporting position in the
neighborhood of Peissant. Under cover of this demonstration the Second
Corps retired on the line Dour-Quarouble-Frameries. The Third Division
on the right of the corps suffered considerable loss in this operation
from the enemy, who had retaken Mons.
"The Second Corps halted on this line, where they partially intrenched
themselves, enabling Sir Douglas Haig with the First Corps gradually to
withdraw to the new position; and he effected this without much further
loss, reaching the line Bavai-Maubeuge about 7 P. M. Toward midday the
enemy appeared to be directing his principal effort against our left.
"I had previously ordered General Allenby with the cavalry to act
vigorously in advance of my left front and endeavor to take the pressure
off.
"About 7.30 A. M. General Allenby received a message from Sir Charles
Ferguson, commanding the Fifth Division, saying that he was very hard
pressed and in urgent need of support. On receipt of this message
General Allenby drew in the cavalry and endeavored to bring direct
support to the Fifth Division.
"During the course of this operation General De Lisle, of the Second
Cavalry Brigade, thought he saw a good opportunity to paralyze the
further advance of the enemy's infantry by making a mounted attack on
his flank. He formed up and advanced for this purpose, but was held up
by wire about five hundred yards from his objective, and the Ninth
Lancers and the Eighteenth Hussars suffered severely in the retirement
of the brigade.
"The Nineteenth Infantry Brigade, which had been guarding the line of
communications, was brought up by rail to Valenciennes on the 22d and
23d. On the morning of the 24th they were moved out to a position south
of Quarouble to support the left flank of the Second Corps.
"With the assistance of the cavalry Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was enabled
to effect his retreat to a new position; although, having two corps of
the enemy on his front and one threatening his flank, he suffered great
losses in doing so.
"At nightfall the position was occupied by the Second Corps to the west
of Bavai, the First Corps to the right. The right was protected by the
Fortress of Maubeuge, the left by the Nineteenth Brigade in position
between Jenlain and Bry, and the cavalry on the outer flank.
"4. The French were still retiring, and I had no support except such as
was afforded by the Fortress of Maubeuge; and the determined attempts of
the enemy to get round my left flank assured me that it was his
intention to hem me against that place and surround me. I felt that not
a moment must be lost in retiring to another position.
"I had every reason to believe that the enemy's forces were somewhat
exhausted and I knew that they had suffered heavy losses. I hoped,
therefore, that his pursuit would not be too vigorous to prevent me
effecting my object.
"The operation, however, was full of danger and difficulty, not only
owing to the very superior force in my front, but also to the exhaustion
of the troops.
"The retirement was recommenced in the early morning of the 25th to a
position in the neighborhood of Le Cateau, and rearguards were ordered
to be clear of the Maubeuge-Bavai-Eih Road by 5.30 A. M.
"Two cavalry brigades, with the divisional cavalry of the Second Corps,
covered the movement of the Second Corps. The remainder of the cavalry
division, with the Nineteenth Brigade, the whole under the command of
General Allenby, covered the west flank.
"The Fourth Division commenced its detrainment at Le Cateau on Sunday,
the 23d, and by the morning of the 25th eleven battalions and a brigade
of artillery with divisional staff were available for service.
"I ordered General Snow to move out to take up a position with his right
south of Solesmes, his left resting on the Cambrai-LeCateau Road south
of La Chaprie. In this position the division tendered great help to the
effective retirement of the Second and First Corps to the new position.
"Although the troops had been ordered to occupy the Cambrai-Le
Cateau-Landrecies position, and the ground had, during the 25th, been
partially prepared and intrenched, I had grave doubts, owing to the
information I had received as to the accumulating strength of the enemy
against me--as to the wisdom of standing there to fight.
"Having regard to the continued retirement of the French on my right, my
exposed left flank, the tendency of the enemy's western corps (II) to
envelop me, and, more than all, the exhausted condition of the troops, I
determined to make a great effort to continue the retreat until I could
put some substantial obstacle, such as the Somme or the Oise, between my
troops and the enemy, and afford the former some opportunity of rest and
reorganization. Orders were, therefore, sent to the corps commanders to
continue their retreat as soon as they possibly could toward the general
line Vermand-St. Quentin-Ribemont.
"The cavalry under General Allenby, were ordered to cover the
retirement.
"Throughout the 25th and far into the evening, the First Corps continued
its march on Landrecies, following the road along the eastern border of
the Foret de Mormal, and arrived at Landrecies about 10 o'clock. I had
intended that the corps should come further west so as to fill up the
gap between Le Cateau and Landrecies, but the men were exhausted and
could not get further in without rest.
"The enemy, however, would not allow them this rest, and about 9.30 P.
M. a report was received that the Fourth Guards Brigade in Landrecies
was heavily attacked by troops of the Ninth German Army Corps, who were
coming through the forest on the north of the town. This brigade fought
most gallantly, and caused the enemy to suffer tremendous loss in
issuing from the forest into the narrow streets of the town. This loss
has been estimated from reliable sources at from 700 to 1,000. At the
same time information reached me from Sir Douglas Haig that his First
Division was also heavily engaged south and east of Maroilles. I sent
urgent messages to the commander of the two French reserve divisions on
my right to come up to the assistance of the First Corps, which they
eventually did. Partly owing to this assistance, but mainly to the
skilful manner in which Sir Douglas Haig extricated his corps from an
exceptionally difficult position in the darkness of the night, they were
able at dawn to resume their march south toward Wassigny on Guise.
"By about 6 P. M. the Second Corps had got into position with their
right on Le Cateau, their left in the neighborhood of Caudry, and the
line of defense was continued thence by the Fourth Division toward
Seranvillers, the left being thrown back.
"During the fighting on the 24th and 25th the cavalry became a good deal
scattered, but by the early morning of the 26th, General Allenby had
succeeded in concentrating two brigades to the south of Cambrai.
"The Fourth Division was placed under the orders of the general officer
commanding the Second Army Corps.
"On the 24th the French Cavalry Corps, consisting of three divisions
under General Sordet, had been in billets north of Avesnes. On my way
back from Bavai, which was my 'Poste de Commandement' during the
fighting of the 23d and 24th, I visited General Sordet, and earnestly
requested his co-operation and support. He promised to obtain sanction
from his army commander to act on my left flank, but said that his
horses were too tired to move before the next day. Although he rendered
me valuable assistance later on in the course of the retirement, he was
unable, for the reasons given, to afford me any support on the most
critical day of all, viz., the 26th.
"At daybreak it became apparent that the enemy was throwing the bulk of
his strength against the left of the position occupied by the Second
Corps and the Fourth Division.
"At this time the guns of four German army corps were in position
against them, and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien reported to me that he judged
it impossible to continue his retirement at daybreak (as ordered) in
face of such an attack.
"I sent him orders to use his utmost endeavors to break off the action
and retire at the earliest possible moment, as it was impossible for me
to send him any support, the First Corps being at the moment incapable
of movement.
"The French Cavalry Corps, under General Sordet, was coming up on our
left rear early in the morning, and I sent an urgent message to him to
do his utmost to come up and support the retirement of my left flank;
but owing to the fatigue of his horses he found himself unable to
intervene in any way.
"There had been no time to intrench the position properly, but the
troops showed a magnificent front to the terrible fire which confronted
them.
"The artillery, although outmatched by at least four to one, made a
splendid fight, and inflicted heavy losses on their opponents.
"At length it became apparent that, if complete annihilation was to be
avoided, a retirement must be attempted; and the order was given to
commence it about 3.30 P. M. The movement was covered with the most
devoted intrepidity and determination by the artillery, which had itself
suffered heavily, and the fine work done by the cavalry in the further
retreat from the position assisted materially in the final completion of
this most difficult and dangerous operation.
"Fortunately the enemy had himself suffered too heavily to engage in an
energetic pursuit.
"I cannot close the brief account of this glorious stand of the British
troops without putting on record my deep appreciation of the valuable
services rendered by Gen. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien.
"I say without hesitation that the saving of the left wing of the army
under my command on the morning of the 26th of August, could never have
been accomplished unless a commander of rare and unusual coolness,
intrepidity, and determination had been present to personally conduct
the operation.
"The retreat was continued far into the night of the 26th and through
the 27th and 28th, on which date the troops halted on the line
Noyon-Chauny-LaFere, having then thrown off the weight of the enemy's
pursuit.
"On the 27th and 28th I was much indebted to General Sordet and the
French Cavalry Division which he commands for materially assisting my
retirement and successfully driving back some of the enemy on Cambrai.
"This closes the period covering the heavy fighting which commenced at
Mons on Sunday afternoon, 23d August, and which really constituted a
four days' battle.
"It is impossible for me to speak too highly of the skill evinced by the
two general officers commanding army corps; the self-sacrificing and
devoted exertions of their staffs; the direction of the troops by
divisional, brigade, and regimental leaders; the command of the smaller
units by their officers; and the magnificent fighting spirit displayed
by non-commissioned officers and men.
"I wish particularly to bring to your Lordship's notice the admirable
work done by the Royal Flying Corps under Sir David Henderson. Their
skill, energy, and perseverance have been beyond all praise. They have
furnished me with the most complete and accurate information, which has
been of incalculable value in the conduct of the operations. Fired at
constantly both by friend and foe, and not hesitating to fly in every
kind of weather, they have remained undaunted throughout.
"Further, by actually fighting in the air, they have succeeded in
destroying five of the enemy's machines."
The combined French and British armies, including the forces that had
retreated from Alsace and Lorraine, gave way with increasing
stubbornness before von Kluck. That German general disregarding the
fortresses surrounding Paris, swung southward to make a junction with
the Army of the Crown Prince of Germany advancing through the Vosges
Mountains. General Manoury's army opposed the German advance on the
entrenched line of Paris. General Gallieni commanding the garrison of
Paris, was ready with a novel mobile transport consisting of taxicabs
and fast trucks. The total number of soldiers in the French and British
armies now outnumbered those in the German armies opposed to them.
General Joffre, in supreme command of the French, had chosen the
battleground. He had set the trap with consummate skill. The word was
given; the trap was sprung; and the first battle of the Marne came as a
crashing surprise to Germany.
CHAPTER VI
THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM
Germany's onrush into heroic Belgium speedily resolved itself into a
saturnalia that drenched the land with blood and roused the civilized
world into resentful horror. As the tide of barbarity swept forward into
Northern France, stories of the horrors filtered through the close web
of German censorship. There were denials at first by German
propagandists. In the face of truth furnished by thousands of witnesses,
the denials faded away.
What caused these atrocities? Were they the spontaneous expression of
dormant brutishness in German soldiers? Were they a sudden reversion of
an entire nation to bestiality?
The answer is that the private soldier as an individual was not
responsible. The carnage, the rapine, the wholesale desolation was an
integral part of the German policy of schrecklichkeit or frightfulness.
This policy was laid down by Germany as part of its imperial war code.
In 1902 Germany issued a new war manual entitled "Kriegsbrauch im
Landkriege." In it is written this cold-blooded declaration:
All measures which conduce to the attainment of the object of war are
permissible and these may be summarized in the two ideas of violence and
cunning. What is permissible includes every means of war without which
the object of the war cannot be attained. All means which modern
invention affords, including the fullest, most dangerous, and most
massive means of destruction, may be utilized.
Brand Whitlock, United States Minister to Belgium, in a formal report to
the State Department, made this statement concerning Germany's policy in
permitting these outrages:
"All these deliberate organized massacres of civilians, all these
murders and outrages, the violation of women, the killing of children,
wanton destruction, burning, looting and pillage, and whole towns
destroyed, were acts for which no possible military necessity can be
pleaded. They were wilfully committed as part of a deliberately prepared
and scientifically organized policy of terrorism."
[Illustration: Painting]
From a Painting by F. Gueldry to illustrate an official report.
GERMAN ATROCITIES
At Senlis, Department of Oise, on September 2,1914, French captives
were made to walk in the open so as to be hit by French bullets. Many
were killed and wounded. The townsman on the left was struck in the
knee. A German officer asked to see the wound and shot him through the
shoulder. On the right a German officer is seen torturing a wounded
French soldier by beating him in the face with a stick.
[Illustration: Photographs]
Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
THE SUPREME EXPONENTS OF GERMAN FRIGHTFULNESS
On the left, General van Bossing, military commander of Belgium. On
the right, Grand Admiral van Tirpitz, who inspired the German
submarine campaign.
THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 91
And now, having considered these outrages as part of the German policy
of terrorism, let us turn to the facts presented by those who made
investigations at first hand in devastated Belgium and Northern France.
Let us first turn to the tragic story of the destruction of Louvain. The
first document comes in the form of a cable sent from the Belgian
Minister of Foreign Affairs under date of August 8,1914:
"On Tuesday evening a body of German troops who had been driven back
retired in disorder upon the town of Louvain. Germans who were guarding
the town thought that the retiring troops were Belgians and fired upon
them. In order to excuse this mistake the Germans, in spite of the most
energetic denials on the part of the authorities, pretended that
Belgians had fired on the Germans, although all the inhabitants,
including policemen, had been disarmed for more than a week. Without any
examination and without listening to any protest the commanding officer
announced that the town would be immediately destroyed. All inhabitants
had to leave their homes at once; some were made prisoners; women and
children were put into a train of which the destination was unknown;
soldiers with fire bombs set fire to the different quarters of the town;
the splendid Church of St. Pierre, the markets, the university and its
scientific establishments, were given to the flames, and it is probable
that the Hotel de Ville, this celebrated jewel of Gothic art, will also
have disappeared in the disaster. Several notabilities were shot at
sight. Thus a town of 40,000 inhabitants, which, since the fifteenth
century, has been the intellectual and scientific capital of the Low
Countries is a heap of ashes. Americans, many of whom have followed the
course at this illustrious alma mater and have there received such
cordial hospitality, cannot remain insensible to this outrage on the
rights of humanity and civilization which is unprecedented in history."
Minister Whitlock made the following report on the same outrage:
"A violent fusillade broke out simultaneously at various points in the
city (Louvain), notably at the Porte de Bruxelles, Porte de Tirlemont,
Rue Leopold, Rue Marie-Therese, Rue des Joyeuses Entrees. German
soldiers were firing at random in every street and in every direction.
Later fires broke out everywhere, notably in the University building,
the Library, in the old Church of St. Peter, in the Place du Peuple, in
the Rue de la Station, in the Boulevard de Tirlemont, and in the
Chaussee de Tirlemont. On the orders of their chiefs, the German
soldiers would break open the houses and set fire to them, shooting on
the inhabitants who tried to leave their dwellings. Many persons who
took refuge in their cellars were burned to death. The German soldiers
were equipped with apparatus for the purpose of firing dwellings,
incendiary pastils, machines for spraying petroleum, etc. . . .
"Major von Manteuffel (of the German forces) sent for Alderman Schmidt.
Upon the latter's arrival, the major declared that hostages were to be
held, as sedition had just broken out. He asked Father Parijs, Mr.
Schmidt, and Mgr. Coenraedts, First Vice-Rector of the University, who
was being held as a hostage, to make proclamations to the inhabitants
exhorting them to be calm and menacing them with a fine of twenty
million francs, the destruction of the city and the hanging of the
hostages, if they created disturbance. Surrounded by about thirty
soldiers and a few officers, Major Manteuffel, Father Parijs, Mr.
Schmidt and Mgr. Coenraedts left in the direction of the station, and
the alderman, in French, and the priest, in Flemish, made proclamations
at the street corners.. . .
"Near the statue of Juste-Lipse, a Dr. Berghausen, a German surgeon, in
a highly excited condition, ran to meet the delegation. He shouted that
a German soldier had just been killed by a shot fired from the house of
Mr. David Fishbach. Addressing the soldiers, Dr. Berghausen said: 'The
blood of the entire population of Louvain is not worth a drop of the
blood of a German soldier!' Then one of the soldiers threw into the
interior of the house of Mr. Fishbach one of the pastils which the
German soldiers carried and immediately the house flared up. It
contained paintings of a high value. The old coachman, Joseph
Vandermosten, who had re-entered the house to try to save the life of
his master, did not return. His body was found the next day amidst the
ruins. . . .
"The Germans made the usual claim that the civil population had fired
upon them and that it was necessary to take these measures, i. e., burn
the churches, the library and other public monuments, burn and pillage
houses, driving out and murdering the inhabitants, sacking the city in
order to punish and to spread terror among the people, and General von
Luttwitz had told me that it was reported that the son of the
burgomaster had shot one of their generals. But the burgomaster of
Louvain had no son and no officer was shot at Louvain. The story of a
general shot by the son of a burgomaster was a repetition of a tragedy
that had occurred at Aerschot, on the 19th, where the fifteen-year-old
son of the burgomaster had been killed by a firing squad, not because he
had shot a general, but because an officer had been shot, probably by
Belgian soldiers retreating through the town. The story of this tragedy
is told by the boy's mother, under oath, before the Belgian Commission,
and is so simple, so touching, so convincing in its verisimilitude, that
I attach a copy of it in extenso to this report. It seems to afford an
altogether typical example of what went on all over the stricken land
during those days of terror. (In other places it was the daughter of the
burgomaster who was said to have shot a general.)
"The following facts may be noted: From the avowal of Prussian officers
themselves, there was not one single victim, among their men at the
barracks of St. Martin, Louvain, where it was claimed that the first
shot had been fired from a house situated in front of the Caserne. This
would appear to be impossible had the civilians fired upon them point
blank from across the street. It was said that when certain houses near
the barracks were burning, numerous explosions occurred, revealing the
presence of cartridges; but these houses were drinking houses much
frequented by German soldiers. It was said that Spanish students shot
from the schools in the Rue de la Station, but Father Catala, rector of
the school, affirms that the schools were empty. . . .
"If it was necessary, for whatever reason, to do what was done at Vise,
at Dinant, at Aerschot, at Louvain, and in a hundred other towns that
were sacked, pillaged and burned, where masses were shot down because
civilians had fired on German troops, and if it was necessary to do this
on a scale never before witnessed in history, one might not unreasonably
assume that the alleged firing by civilians was done on a scale, if not
so thoroughly organized, at least somewhat in proportion to the rage of
destruction that punished it. And hence it would seem to be a simple
matter to produce at least convincing evidence that civilians had fired
on the soldiers; but there is no testimony to that effect beyond that of
the soldiers who merely assert it: Man hat geschossen. If there were no
more firing on soldiers by civilians in Belgium than is proved by the
German testimony, it was not enough to justify the burning of the
smallest of the towns that was overtaken by that fate. And there is not
a scintilla of evidence of organized bands of francs-tireurs, such as
were found in the war of 1870."
Under date of September 12, 1917, Minister Whitlock, in a report to the
State Department of the United States, made the following summary: "As
one studies the evidence at hand, one is struck at the outset by the
fact so general that it must exclude the hypothesis of coincidence, and
that is that these wholesale massacres followed immediately upon some
check, some reverse, that the German army had sustained. The German army
was checked by the guns of the forts to the east of Liege, and the
horrors of Vise, Verviers, Bligny, Battice, Hervy and twenty villages
follow. When they entered Liege, they burned the houses along two
streets and killed many persons, five or six Spaniards among them.
Checked before Namur they sacked Andenne, Bouvignies, and Champignon,
and when they took Namur they burned one hundred and fifty houses.
Compelled to give battle to the French army in the Belgian Ardennes they
ravaged the beautiful valley of the Semois; the complete destruction of
the village of Rossignlo and the extermination of its entire male
population took place there. Checked again by the French on the Meuse,
the awful carnage of Dinant results. Held on the Sambre by the French,
they burn one hundred houses at Charleroi and enact the appalling
tragedy of Tamines. At Mons, the English hold them, and after that all
over the Borinage there is a systematic destruction, pillage and murder.
The Belgian army drive them back from Malines and Louvain is doomed. The
Belgian army failing back and fighting in retreat took refuge in the
forts of Antwerp, and the burning and sack of Hougaerde, Wavre,
Ottignies, Grimde, Neerlinter, Weert, St. George, Shaffen and Aerschot
follow.
[Illustration: Painting: Three soldiers in a bombed out shack, one on a
telephone.]
AN OBSERVATION POST
Watching the effect of gun fire from a sand-bagged ruin near the
German lines.
[Illustration: Photograph of King and soldiers parading on horses.]
Photo by Trans-Atlantic News Service
KING ALBERT AT THE HEAD OF THE HEROIC SOLDIERS OF BELGIUM
It is universally agreed that the Belgian monarch was no figurehead
general but a real leader of his troops. It was these men, facing
annihilation, who astonished the world by opposing the German military
machine successfully enough to allow France to get her armies into
shape and prevent the immediate taking of Paris that was planned by
Germany.
[Illustration: Painting of soldiers dragging large guns through mud;
shells are exploding in the background; in the foreground a dead
soldier lies face down in the mud.]
THE TERRIBLE FLANDERS MUD
A German battery endeavoring to escape from a British advance sinks in
the mud. The gunners are endeavoring to pull the gun out with ropes.
"The Belgian troops inflicted serious losses on the Germans in the South
of the Province of Limbourg, and the towns of Lummen, Bilsen, and
Lanaeken are partially destroyed. Antwerp held out for two months, and
all about its outer line of fortifications there was blood and fire,
numerous villages were sacked and burned and the whole town of Termonde
was destroyed. During the battles of September the village of
Boortmeerbeek near Malines, occupied by the Germans, was retaken by the
Belgians, and when the Germans entered it again they burned forty
houses. Three times occupied by the Belgians and retaken by the Germans
Boortmeerbeek was three times punished in the same way. That is to say,
everywhere the German army met with a defeat it took it out, as we say
in America, on the civil population. And that is the explanation of the
German atrocities in Belgium."
A committee of the highest honor and responsibility was appointed by the
British Government to investigate the whole subject of atrocities in
Belgium and Northern France. Its chairman was the Rt. Hon. Viscount
James Bryce, formerly British Ambassador to the United States. Its other
members were the Rt. Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward
Clark, Sir Alfred Hopkinson, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Sheffield, Mr. Harold Cox and Sir Kenelm E. Digby.
The report of the commission bears upon its face the stamp of
painstaking search for truth, substantiates every statement made by
Minister Whitlock and makes known many horrible instances of cruelty and
barbarity. It makes the following deductions as having been proved
beyond question:
1. That there were in many parts of Belgium deliberate and
systematically organized massacres of the civil population, accompanied
by many isolated murders and other outrages.
2. That in the conduct of the war generally innocent civilians, both men
and women, were murdered in large numbers, women violated, and children
murdered.
3. That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of property
were ordered and countenanced by the officers of the German army, that
elaborate provision had been made for systematic incendiarism at the
very outbreak of the war, and that the burnings and destruction were
frequent where no military necessity could be alleged, being, indeed,
part of a system of general terrorization.
4. That the rules and usages of war were frequently broken, particularly
by the using of civilians, including women and children, as a shield for
advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by killing the
wounded and prisoners and in the frequent abuse of the Red Cross and the
white flag.
The Bryce Commission's report on the destruction of Dinant is an example of
testimony laid before them. It follows:
"A clear statement of the outrages at Dinant, which many travelers will
recall as a singularly picturesque town on the Meuse, is given by one
witness, who says that the Germans began burning houses in the Rue St.
Jacques on the 21st of August, and that every house in the street was
burned. On the following day an engagement took place between the French
and the Germans, and the witness spent the whole day in the cellar of a
bank with his wife and children. On the morning of the 23d, about 5
o'clock, firing ceased, and almost immediately afterward a party of
Germans came to the house. They rang the bell and began to batter at the
door and windows. The witness' wife went to the door and two or three
Germans came in. The family were ordered out into the street. There they
found another family, and the two families were driven with their hands
above their heads along the Rue Grande. All the houses in the street
were burning.
"The party was eventually put into a forge where there were a number of
other prisoners, about a hundred in all, and were kept there from 11 A.
M. till 2 P. M. They were then taken to the prison. There they were
assembled in a courtyard and searched. No arms were found. They were
then passed through into the prison itself and put into cells. The
witness and his wife were separated from each other. During the next
hour the witness heard rifle shots continually and noticed in the corner
of a courtyard leading off the row of cells the body of a young man with
a mantle thrown over it. He recognized the mantle as having belonged to
his wife. The witness' daughter was allowed to go out to see what had
happened to her mother, and the witness himself was allowed to go across
the courtyard half an hour afterward for the same purpose. He found his
wife lying on the floor in a room. She had bullet wounds in four places
but was alive and told her husband to return to the children and he did
so.
"About 5 o'clock in the evening, he saw the Germans bringing out all the
young and middle-aged men from the cells, and ranging their prisoners,
to the number of forty, in three rows in the middle of the courtyard.
About twenty Germans were drawn up opposite, but before anything was
done there was a tremendous fusillade from some point near the prison
and the civilians were hurried back to their cells. Half an hour later
the same forty men were brought back into the courtyard. Almost
immediately there was a second fusillade and they were driven back to
the cells again.
"About 7 o'clock the witness and other prisoners were brought out of
their cells and marched out of the prison. They went between two lines
of troops to Roche Bayard, about a kilometer away. An hour later the
women and children were separated and the prisoners were brought back to
Dinant passing the prison on their way. Just outside the prison, the
witness saw three lines of bodies which he recognized as being those of
his neighbors. They were nearly all dead, but he noticed movement in
some of them. There were about one hundred and twenty bodies. The
prisoners were then taken up to the top of a hill outside Dinant and
compelled to stay there till 8 o'clock in the morning. On the following
day they were put into cattle trucks and taken thence to Coblenz. For
three months they remained prisoners in Germany.
"Unarmed civilians were killed in masses at other places near the
prison. About ninety bodies were seen lying on the top of one another in
a grass square opposite the convent. A witness asked a German officer
why her husband had been shot, and he told her that it was because two
of her sons had been in the civil guard and had shot at the Germans. As
a matter of fact, one of her sons was at that time in Liege and the
other in Brussels. It is stated that besides the ninety corpses referred
to above, sixty corpses of civilians were recovered from a hole in the
brewery yard and that forty-eight bodies of women and children were
found in a garden. The town was systematically set on fire by hand
grenades. Another witness saw a little girl of seven, one of whose legs
was broken and the other injured by a bayonet. We have no reason to
believe that the civilian population of Dinant gave any provocation, or
that any other defense can be put forward to justify the treatment
inflicted upon its citizens."
The Bryce Commission reports the outrages in a number of Belgian
villages in this terse fashion:
"In Hofstade a number of houses had been set on fire and many corpses
were seen, some in houses, some in back yards, and some in the streets.
Two witnesses speak of having seen the body of a young man pierced by
bayonet thrusts with the wrists cut also. On a side road the corpse of a
civilian was seen on his doorstep with a bayonet wound in his stomach
and by his side the dead body of a boy of five or six with his hands
nearly severed. The corpses of a woman and boy were seen at the
blacksmith's. They had been killed with the bayonet. In a cafe, a young
man, also killed with the bayonet, was holding his hands together as if
in the attitude of supplication.
"In the garden of a house in the main street, bodies of two women were
observed, and in another house, the body of a boy of sixteen with two
bayonet wounds in the chest. In Sempst a similar condition of affairs
existed. Houses were burning and in some of them were the charred
remains of civilians. In a bicycle shop a witness saw the burned corpse
of a man. Other witnesses speak of this incident. Another civilian,
unarmed, was shot as he was running away. As will be remembered, all the
arms had been given up some time before by the order of the burgomaster.
"At Weerde four corpses of civilians were lying in the road. It was said
that these men had fired upon the German soldiers; but this is denied.
The arms had been given up long before. Two children were killed in the
village of Weerde, quite wantonly as they were standing in the road with
their mother. They were three or four years old and were killed with the
bayonet. A small barn burning close by formed a convenient means of
getting rid of bodies. They were thrown into the flames from the
bayonets. It is right to add that no commissioned officer was present at
the time. At Eppeghem, on August 25th, a pregnant woman who had been
wounded with a bayonet was discovered in the convent. She was dying. On
the road six dead bodies of laborers were seen.
"At Boortmeerbeek a German soldier was seen to fire three times at a
little girl five years old. Having failed to hit her, he subsequently
bayoneted her. He was killed with the butt end of a rifle by a Belgian
soldier who had seen him commit this murder from a distance. At Herent
the charred body of a civilian was found in a butcher's shop, and in a
handcart twenty yards away was the dead body of a laborer. Two eye
witnesses relate that a German soldier shot a civilian and stabbed him
with a bayonet as he lay. He then made one of these witnesses, a
civilian prisoner, smell the blood on the bayonet. At Haecht the bodies
of ten civilians were seen lying in a row by a brewery wall. In a
laborer's house, which had been broken up, the mutilated corpse of a
woman of thirty to thirty-five was discovered."
Concerning the treatment of women and children in general, the report
continues: "The evidence shows that the German authorities, when
carrying out a policy of systematic arson and plunder in selected
districts, usually drew some distinction between the adult male
population on the one hand and the women and children on the other. It
was a frequent practice to set apart the adult males of the condemned
district with a view to the execution of a suitable number--preferably
of the younger and more vigorous--and to reserve the women and children
for milder treatment. The depositions, however, present many instances
of calculated cruelty, often going the length of murder, toward the
women and children of the condemned area.
"At Dinant sixty women and children were confined in the cellar of a
convent from Sunday morning till the following Friday, August 28th,
sleeping on the ground, for there were no beds, with nothing to drink
during the whole period, and given no food until Wednesday, when
somebody threw into the cellar two sticks of macaroni and a carrot for
each prisoner. In other cases the women and children were marched for
long distances along roads, as, for instance, the march of the women
from Louvain to Tirlemont, August 28th, the laggards pricked on by the
attendant Uhlans. A lady complains of having been brutally kicked by
privates. Others were struck at with the butt end of rifles. At Louvain,
at Liege, at Aerschot, at Malines, at Montigny, at Andenne, and
elsewhere, there is evidence that the troops were not restrained from
drunkenness, and drunken soldiers cannot be trusted to observe the rules
or decencies of war, least of all when they are called upon to execute a
preordained plan of arson and pillage. From the very first women were
not safe. At Liege women and children were chased about the streets by
soldiers.
"Witnesses recount how a great crowd of men, women and children from
Aerschot were marched to Louvain, and then suddenly exposed to a fire
from a mitrailleuse and rifles. 'We were all placed,' recounts a
sufferer, 'in Station Street, Louvain, and the German soldiers fired on
us. I saw the corpses of some women in the street. I fell down, and a
woman who had been shot fell on top of me.' Women and children suddenly
turned out into the streets, and, compelled to witness the destruction
of their homes by fire, provided a sad spectacle to such as were sober
enough to see.
"A humane German officer, witnessing the ruin of Aerschot, exclaimed in
disgust: 'I am a father myself, and I cannot bear this. It is not war
but butchery.' Officers as well as men succumbed to the temptation of
drink, with results which may be illustrated by an incident which
occurred at Campenhout. In this village there was a certain well-to-do
merchant (name given) who had a cellar of good champagne. On the
afternoon of the 14th or 15th of August three German cavalry officers
entered the house and demanded champagne. Having drunk ten bottles and
invited five or six officers and three or four private soldiers to join
them, they continued their carouse, and then called for the master and
mistress of the house.
"'Immediately my mistress came in,' says the valet de chambre, 'one of
the officers who was sitting on the floor got up, and, putting a
revolver to my mistress' temple, shot her dead. The officer was
obviously drunk. The other officers continued to drink and sing, and
they did not pay any great attention to the killing of my mistress. The
officer who shot my mistress then told my master to dig a grave and bury
my mistress. My master and the officer went into the garden, the officer
threatening my master with a pistol. My master was then forced to dig
the grave and to bury my mistress in it. I cannot say for what reason
they killed my mistress. The officer who did it was singing all the
time.'
"In the evidence before us there are cases tending to show that
aggravated crimes against women were sometimes severely punished. One
witness reports that a young girl who was being pursued by a drunken
soldier at Louvain appealed to a German officer, and that the offender
was then and there shot. Another describes how an officer of the
Thirty-second Regiment of the Line was led out to execution for the
violation of two young girls, but reprieved at the request or with the
consent of the girls' mother. These instances are sufficient to show
that the maltreatment of women was no part of the military scheme of the
invaders, however much it may appear to have been the inevitable result
of the system of terror deliberately adopted in certain regions. Indeed,
so much is avowed. 'I asked the commander why we had been spared,' says
a lady in Louvain, who deposes to having suffered much brutal treatment
during the sack. He said: 'We will not hurt you any more. Stay in
Louvain. All is finished.' It was Saturday, August 29th, and the reign
of terror was over.
"The Germans used men, women and children of Belgium as screens for
advancing infantry, as is shown in the following: Outside Fort Fleron,
near Liege, men and children were marched in front of the Germans to
prevent the Belgian soldiers from firing. The progress of the Germans
through Mons was marked by many incidents of this character. Thus, on
August 22d, half a dozen Belgian colliers returning from work were
marching in front of some German troops who were pursuing the English,
and in the opinion of the witnesses, they must have been placed there
intentionally. An English officer describes how he caused a barricade to
be erected in a main thoroughfare leading out of Mons, when the Germans,
in order to reach a crossroad in the rear, fetched civilians out of the
houses on each side of the main road and compelled them to hold up white
flags and act as cover.
"Another British officer who saw this incident is convinced that the
Germans were acting deliberately for the purpose of protecting
themselves from the fire of the British troops. Apart from this
protection, the Germans could not have advanced, as the street was
straight and commanded by the British rifle fire at a range of 700 or
800 yards. Several British soldiers also speak of this incident, and
their story is confirmed by a Flemish witness in a side street."
The French Government also appointed a commission, headed by M. Georges
Payelle. This body made an investigation of outrages committed by German
officers and soldiers in Northern France. Its report showed conditions
that outstripped in horror the war tactics of savages. It makes the
following accusations:
"In Rebais, two English cavalrymen who were surprised and wounded in
this commune were finished off with gunshots by the Germans when they
were dismounted and when one of them had thrown up his hands, showing
thus that he was unarmed.
"In the department of the Marne, as everywhere else, the German troops
gave themselves up to general pillage, which was carried out always
under similar conditions and with the complicity of their leaders. The
Communes of Heiltz-le-Maurupt, Suippes, Marfaux, Fromentieres and
Esternay suffered especially in this way. Everything which the invader
could carry off from the houses was placed on motor lorries and
vehicles. At Suippes, in particular, they carried off in this way a
quantity of different objects, among these sewing machines and toys. A
great many villages, as well as important country towns, were burned
without any reason whatever. Without doubt, these crimes were committed
by order, as German detachments arrived in the neighborhood with their
torches, their grenades, and their usual outfit for arson.
"At Marfaux nineteen private houses were burned. Of the Commune of
Glannes practically nothing remains. At Somme-Tourbe the entire village
has been destroyed, with the exception of the Mairie, the church and two
private buildings. At Auve nearly the whole town has been destroyed. At
Etrepy sixty-three families out of seventy are homeless. At Huiron all
of the houses, with the exception of five have been burned. At
Sermaize-les-Bains only about forty houses out of 900 remain. At
Bignicourt-sur-Saultz thirty houses out of thirty-three are in ruins.
"At Suippes, the big market town which has been practically burned out,
German soldiers carrying straw and cans of petrol have been seen in the
streets. While the mayor's house was burning, six sentinels with fixed
bayonets were under orders to forbid anyone to approach and to prevent
any help being given.
"All this destruction by arson, which only represents a small proportion
of the acts of the same kind in the Department of Seine-et-Marne, was
accomplished without the least tendency to rebellion or the smallest act
of resistance being recorded against the inhabitants of the localities
which are today more or less completely destroyed. In some villages the
Germans, before setting fire to them made one of their soldiers fire a
shot from his rifle so as to be able to pretend afterward that the
civilian population had attacked them, an allegation which is all the
more absurd since at the time when the enemy arrived, the only
inhabitants left were old men, sick persons, or people absolutely
without any means of aggression.
[Illustration: Painting]
THE HORRORS OF GERMAN RULE IN FRANCE
Forcibly removing French civilians from Lille to German labor
colonies. Families were ruthlessly separated and led away into slavery
often worse than death.
[Illustration: Hand to hand combat with bayonets.]
Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.
A FIGHT IN A CLOUD OF GAS
The Germans had sent over gas and in this spot it lingered. Then the
infantry advanced and here, amid the British wire entanglements, the
foes meet. Both sides in gas masks, they struggle amid the "poisonous
vapor, and when the bayonet fails they fight, like the pair in the
foreground, to bring death by tearing away their opponent's mask.
"Numerous crimes against the person have also been committed. In the
majority of the communes hostages have been taken away; many of them
have not returned. At Sermaize-les-Bains, the Germans carried off about
one hundred and fifty people, some of whom were decked out with helmets
and coats and compelled, thus equipped, to mount guard over the bridges.
"At Bignicourt-sur-Saultz thirty men and forty-five women and children
were obliged to leave with a detachment. One of the men--a certain Emile
Pierre--has not returned nor sent any news of himself. At Corfelix, M.
Jacqet, who was carried off on the 7th of September with eleven of his
fellow-citizens, was found five hundred meters from the village with a
bullet in his head.
"At Champuis, the cure, his maid-servant, and four other inhabitants who
were taken away on the same day as the hostages of Corfelix had not
returned at the time of our visit to the place.
"At the same place an old man of seventy, named Jacquemin, was tied down
in his bed by an officer and left in this state without food for three
days. He died a little time after. At Vert-la-Gravelle a farm hand was
killed. He was struck on the head with a bottle and his chest was run
through with a lance. The garde champetre Brulefer of le Gault-la-Foret
was murdered at Maclaunay, where he had been taken by the Germans. His
body was found with his head shattered and a wound on his chest.
"At Champguyon, a commune which has been fired, a certain Verdier was
killed in his father-in-law's house. The latter was not present at the
execution, but he heard a shot and next day an officer said to him, 'Son
shot. He is under the ruins.' In spite of the search made the body has
not been found among them. It must have been consumed in the fire.
"At Sermaize, the roadmaker, Brocard, was placed among a number of
hostages. Just at the moment when he was being arrested with his son,
his wife and his daughter-in-law in a state of panic rushed to throw
themselves into the Saulx. The old man was able to free himself for a
moment and ran in all haste after them and made several attempts to save
them, but the Germans dragged him away pitilessly, leaving the two
wretched women struggling in the river. When Brocard and his son were
restored to liberty, four days afterward, and found the bodies, they
discovered that their wives had both received bullet wounds in the head.
"At Triaucourt the Germans gave themselves up to the worst excesses.
Angered doubtless by the remark which an officer had addressed to a
soldier, against whom a young girl of nineteen, Mlle. Helene Proces, had
made complaint of on account of the indecent treatment to which she had
been subjected, they burned the village and made a systematic massacre
of the inhabitants. They began by setting fire to the house of an
inoffensive householder, M. Jules Gand, and by shooting this unfortunate
man as he was leaving his house to escape the flames. Then they
dispersed among the houses in the streets, firing off their rifles on
every side. A young man, seventeen years, Georges Lecourtier, who tried
to escape, was shot. M. Alfred Lallemand suffered the same fate. He was
pursued into the kitchen of his fellow-citizen Tautelier, and murdered
there, while Tautelier received three bullets in his hand.
"Fearing, not without reason, for their lives, Mlle. Proces, her mother
and her grandmother of seventy-one and her old aunt of eighty-one, tried
to cross the trellis which separates their garden from a neighboring
property with the help of a ladder. The young girl alone was able to
reach the other side and to avoid death by hiding in the cabbages. As
for the other women, they were struck down by rifle shots. The village
cure collected the brains of the aunt on the ground on which they were
strewn and had the bodies carried into Proces' house. During the
following night, the Germans played the piano near the bodies.
"While the carnage raged, the fire rapidly spread and devoured
thirty-five houses. An old man of seventy and a child of two months
perished in the flames. M. Igier, who was trying to save his cattle, was
pursued for 300 meters by soldiers, who fired at him ceaselessly. By a
miracle this man had the good fortune not to be wounded, but five
bullets went through his clothing."
This summary merely hints at the atrocities that were perpetrated. And
these are the crimes that France and Belgium will remember after
indemnities have been paid, after borders have been re-established and
after generations shall have past. The horrors of blazing villages, of
violated womanhood, of mutilated childhood, of stark and senseless
butcheries, will flash before the minds of French and Belgian men and
women when Germany's name shall be mentioned long after the declaration
of peace.
Schrecklichkeit had its day. It took its bloody toll of the fairest and
bravest of two gallant nations. It ravaged Poland as well and wreaked
its fiendish will on wounded soldiers on the battle-fields.
But Schrecklichkeit is dead. Belgium and France have shown that murder
and rape and arson can not destroy liberty nor check the indomitable
ambitions of the free peoples of earth.
The lesson to Germany was taught at a terrible cost to humanity, but it
was taught in a fashion that nations hereafter who shall dream of
emulating the Hun will know in advance that frightfulness serves no end
except to feed the lust for destruction that exists only in the most
debased and brutish of men.
CHAPTER VII
THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE
France and civilization were saved by Joffre and Foch at the first
battle of the Marne, in September, 1914. Autocracy was destroyed by Foch
at the second battle of the Marne, in July, 1918.
This in a nutshell embraces the dramatic opening and closing episodes of
the World War on the soil of France. Bracketed between these two
glorious victories were the agonies of martyred France, the deaths and
life-long cripplings of millions of men, the up-rooting of arrogant
militarism, the liberation of captive nations.
The first battle of the Marne was wholly a French operation. The British
were close at hand, but had no share in the victory. Generals Gallieni
and Manoury, acting under instructions from Marshal Joffre, were driven
by automobile to the headquarters of the British commander, Sir John
French, in the village of Melun. They explained in detail General
Joffre's plan of attack upon the advancing German army. An urgent
request was made that the British army halt its retreat, face about, and
attack the two corps of von Kluck's army then confronting the British.
Simultaneously with this attack General Manoury's forces were to fall
upon the flank and the rear guard of von Kluck along the River Ourcq.
This operation was planned for the next day, September 5th. Sir John
French replied that he could not get his tired army in readiness for
battle within forty-eight hours. This would delay the British attack in
all probability until September 7th.
Joffre's plan of battle, however, would admit of no delay. The case was
urgent; there was grave danger of a union between the great forces
headed by the Crown Prince and those under von Kluck. He resolved to go
ahead without the British, and ordered Manoury to strike as had been
planned.
He fixed as an extreme limit for the movement of retreat, which was
still going on, the line of Bray-sur-Seine, Nogent-sur-Seine,
Arcis-sur-Aube, Vitry-le-Francois, and the region to the north of
Bar-le-Duc. This line might be reached if the troops were compelled to
go back so far. They would attack before reaching it, as soon as there
was a possibility of bringing about an offensive disposition, permitting
the co-operation of the whole of the French forces. On September 5 it
appeared that this desired situation existed.
[Illustration: Photograph]
Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N.Y.
GENERAL PERSHING AND MARSHAL JOFFRE
The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces chatting
with the veteran Marshal of France, the hero of the first battle of
the Marne.
[Illustration: Photograph]
MARSHAL FERDINAND FOCH, GENERALISSIMO OF THE ALLIED ARMIES
No leader could command greater confidence than the brilliant
strategist to whom was mainly due the great victory of the Marne in
the first autumn of the war. He also directed the French offensive on
the Somme in 1916 and in November, 1917, he was chosen as the French
representative and subsequently chairman of the Central Military
Committee appointed to assist the Supreme Allied War Council. Marshal
Foch was formerly for five years lecturer on strategy and tactics at
the Ecole de Guerre. At the close of the war he said to the Allied
armies: "You have won the greatest battle in history and saved the
most sacred cause--the liberty of the world,"
[Illustration: Map; Paris in the lower left corner, showing various
battle lines Eastward to Luxumburg.]
THE FIRST GERMAN DASH FOR PARIS
The First German army, carrying audacity to temerity, had continued its
endeavor to envelop the French left, had crossed the Grand Morin, and
reached the region of Chauffry, to the south of Rebais and of Esternay.
It aimed then at cutting Joffre off from Paris, in order to begin the
investment of the capital.
The Second army had its head on the line Champaubert, Etoges, Bergeres,
and Vertus.
The Third and Fourth armies reached to Chalons-sur-Marne and
Bussy-le-Repos. The Fifth army was advancing on one side and the other
from the Argonne as far as Triacourt-les-Islettes and Juivecourt. The
Sixth and Seventh armies were attacking more to the east.
The French left army had been able to occupy the line Sezanne,
Villers-St. Georges and Courchamps. This was precisely the disposition
which the General-in-Chief had wished to see achieved. On the 4th he
decided to take advantage of it, and ordered all the armies to hold
themselves ready. He had taken from his right two new army corps, two
divisions of infantry, and two divisions of cavalry, which were
distributed between his left and his center.
On the evening of the 5th he addressed to all the commanders of armies a
message ordering them to attack.
"The hour has come," he wrote, "to advance at all costs, and to die
where you stand rather than give way."
If one examines the map, it will be seen that by his inflection toward
Meaux and Coulommiers General von Kluck was exposing his right to the
offensive action of the French left. This is the starting point of the
victory of the Marne.
On the evening of September 5th the French left army had reached the
front Penchard-Saint-Souflet-Ver. On the 6th and 7th it continued its
attacks vigorously with the Ourcq as objective. On the evening of the
7th it was some kilometers from the Ourcq, on the front
Chambry-Marcilly-Lisieux-Acy-en-Multien. On the 8th, the Germans, who
had in great haste reinforced their right by bringing their Second and
Fourth army corps back to the north, obtained some successes by attacks
of extreme violence. But in spite of this pressure the French held their
ground. In a brilliant action they took three standards, and being
reinforced prepared a new attack for the 10th. At the moment that this
attack was about to begin the enemy was already in retreat toward the
north. The attack became a pursuit, and on the 12th the French
established themselves on the Aisne.
Why did the German forces which were confronting the French, and on the
evening before attacking so furiously, retreat on the morning of the
10th? Because in bringing back on the 6th several army corps from the
south to the north to face the French left, the enemy had exposed his
left to the attacks of the now rested British, who had immediately faced
around toward the north, and to those of the French armies which were
prolonging the English lines to the right. This is what the French
command had sought to bring about. This is what happened on September
8th and allowed the development and rehabilitation which it was to
effect.
On the 6th the British army set out from the line Rozcy-Lagny and that
evening reached the southward bank of the Grand Morin. On the 7th and
8th it continued its march, and on the 9th had debouched to the north of
the Marne below Chauteau-Thierry--the town that was to become famous
for the American stand in 1918--taking in flank the German forces which
on that day were opposing, on the Ourcq, the French left army. Then it
was that these forces began to retreat, while the British army, going in
pursuit and capturing seven guns and many prisoners, reached the Aisne
between Soissons and Longueval.
The role of the French army, which was operating to the right of the
British army, was threefold. It had to support the British attacking on
its left. It had on its right to support the center, which, from
September 7th, had been subjected to a German attack of great violence.
Finally, its mission was to throw back the three active army corps and
the reserve corps which faced it.
On the 7th, it made a leap forward, and on the following days reached
and crossed the Marne, seizing, after desperate fighting, guns,
howitzers, mitrailleuses, and a million cartridges. On the 12th it
established itself on the north edge of the Montagne-de-Reime in contact
with the French center, which for its part had just forced the enemy to
retreat in haste.
The French center consisted of a new army created on August 29th and of
one of those which at the beginning of the campaign had been engaged in
Belgian Luxemburg. The first had retreated, on August 29th to September
5th, from the Aisne to the north of the Marne and occupied the general
front Sezanne-Mailly.
The second, more to the east, had drawn back to the south of the line
Humbauville-Chateau-Beauchamp-Bignicourt-Blesmes-Maurupt-le-Montoy.
The enemy, in view of his right being arrested and the defeat of his
enveloping movement, made a desperate effort from the 7th to the 19th to
pierce the French center to the west and to the east of
Fere-Champenoise. On the 8th he succeeded in forcing back the right of
the new French army, which retired as far as Gouragancon. On the 9th, at
6 o'clock in the morning, there was a further retreat to the south of
that village, while on the left the other army corps also had to go back
to the line Allemant-Connantre.
Despite this retreat General Foch, commanding the army of the center,
ordered a general offensive for the same day. With the Morocco division,
whose behavior was heroic, he met a furious assault of the Germans on
his left toward the marshes of Saint Gond. Then, with the divisions
which had just victoriously overcome the attacks of the enemy to the
north of Sezanne, and with the whole of his left army corps, he made a
flanking attack in the evening of the 9th upon the German forces, and
notably the guard, which had thrown back his right army corps. The
enemy, taken by surprise by this bold maneuver, did not resist, and beat
a hasty retreat. This marked Foch as the most daring and brilliant
strategist of the war.
On the 11th the French crossed the Marne between Tours-sur-Marne and
Sarry, driving the Germans in front of them in disorder. On the 12th
they were in contact with the enemy to the north of the Camp de Chalons.
The reserve army of the center, acting on the right of the one just
referred to, had been intrusted with the mission during the 7th, 8th,
and 9th of disengaging its neighbor, and it was only on the 10th that
being reinforced by an army corps from the east, it was able to make its
action effectively felt. On the 11th the Germans retired. But,
perceiving their danger, they fought desperately, with enormous
expenditure of projectiles, behind strong intrenchments. On the 12th the
result had none the less been attained, and the two French center armies
were solidly established on the ground gained.
To the right of these two armies were three others. They had orders to
cover themselves to the north and to debouch toward the west on the
flank of the enemy, which was operating to the west of the Argonne. But
a wide interval in which the Germans were in force separated them from
the French center. The attack took place, nevertheless, with very
brilliant success for the French artillery, which destroyed eleven
batteries of the Sixteenth German army corps.
On the 10th inst., the Eighth and Fifteenth German army corps
counter-attacked, but were repulsed. On the 11th French progress
continued with new successes, and on the 12th the French were able to
face round toward the north in expectation of the near and inevitable
retreat of the enemy, which, in fact, took place from the 13th.
The withdrawal of the mass of the German force involved also that of the
left. From the 12th onward the forces of the enemy operating between
Nancy and the Vosges retreated in a hurry before the two French armies
of the East, which immediately occupied the positions that the enemy had
evacuated. The offensive of the French right had thus prepared and
consolidated in the most useful way the result secured by the left and
center.
Such was this seven days' battle, in which more than two millions of men
were engaged. Each army gained ground step by step, opening the road to
its neighbor, supported at once by it, taking in flank the adversary
which the day before it had attacked in front, the efforts of one
articulating closely with those of the other, a perfect unity of
intention and method animating the supreme command.
To give this victory all its meaning it is necessary to add that it was
gained by troops which for two weeks had been retreating, and which,
when the order for the offensive was given, were found to be as ardent
as on the first day. It has also to be said that these troops had to
meet the whole Germany army. Under their pressure the German retreat at
certain times had the appearance of a rout.
In spite of the fatigue of the poilus, in spite of the power of the
German heavy artillery, the French took colors, guns, mitrailleuses,
shells, and thousands of prisoners. One German corps lost almost the
whole of its artillery.
In that great battle the spectacular rush of General Gallieni's army
defending Paris, was one of the dramatic surprises that decided the
issue. In that stroke Gallieni sent his entire force forty miles to
attack the right wing of the German army. In this gigantic maneuver
every motor car in Paris was utilized, and the flying force of Gallieni
became the "Army in Taxicabs," a name that will live as long as France
exists.
General Clergerie, Chief of Staff to Gallieni told the story for
posterity. He said:
"From August 26, 1914, the German armies had been descending upon Paris
by forced marches. On September 1st they were only three days' march
from the advanced line of the intrenched camp, which the garrison were
laboring desperately to put into condition for defense. It was necessary
to cover with trenches a circuit of 110 miles, install siege guns,
assure the coming of supplies for them over narrow-gauge railways,
assemble the food and provisions of all kinds necessary for a city of
4,000,000 inhabitants.
"But on September 3d, the intelligence service, which was working
perfectly, stated, about the middle of the day, that the German columns,
after heading straight for Paris, were swerving toward the southeast and
seemed to wish to avoid the fortified camp.
"General Gallieni and I then had one of those long conferences which
denoted grave events; they usually lasted from two to five minutes at
most. The fact is that the military government of Paris did little
talking--it acted. The conference reached this conclusion: 'If they do
not come to us, we will go to them with all the force we can muster.'
Nothing remained but to make the necessary preparations. The first thing
to do was not to give the alarm to the enemy. General Manoury's army
immediately received orders to lie low and avoid any engagement that was
not absolutely necessary." Then care was taken to reinforce it by every
means. All was ready at the designated time.
In the night of September 3d, knowing that the enemy would have to leave
only a rear guard on one bank of the Ourcq, General Gallieni and General
Clergerie decided to march against that rear guard, to drive it back
with all the weight of the Manoury army, to cut the enemy's
communications, and take full advantage of his hazardous situation.
Immediately the following order was addressed to General Manoury:
Because of the movement of the German armies, which seem to be slipping
in before our front to the southeast, I intend to send your army to
attack them in the flank, that is to say, in an easterly direction. I
will indicate your line of march as soon as I learn that of the British
army. But make your arrangements now so that your troops shall be ready
to march this afternoon and to begin a general movement east of the
intrenched camp tomorrow.
At ten in the morning a consultation was held by Generals Gallieni,
Clergerie, and Manoury, and the details of the plan of operations were
immediately decided. General Joffre gave permission to attack and
announced that he would himself take the offensive on the 6th. On the
5th, at noon, the army from Paris fired the first shot; the battle of
the Ourcq, a preface to the Marne, had begun.
General Clergerie then told what a precious purveyor of information he
had found in General von der Marwitz, cavalry commander of the German
first army, who made intemperate use of the wireless telegraph and did
not even take the trouble to put into cipher his dispatches, of which
the Eiffel Tower made a careful collection. "In the evening of September
9th," he said, "an officer of the intelligence corps brought me a
dispatch from this same Marwitz couched in something like these terms:
'Tell me exactly where you are and what you are doing. Hurry up, because
XXX.' The officer was greatly embarrassed to interpret those three X's.
Adopting the language of the poilu, I said to him, 'Translate it, "I am
going to bolt."' True enough, next day we found on the site of the
German batteries, which had been precipitately evacuated, stacks of
munitions; while by the roadside we came upon motors abandoned for the
slightest breakdown, and near Betz almost the entire outfit of a field
bakery, with a great store of flour and dough half-kneaded. Paris and
France were saved.
"Von Kluck could not get over his astonishment. He has tried to explain
it by saying he was unlucky, for out of a hundred governors not one
would have acted as Gallieni did, throwing his whole available force
nearly forty miles from his stronghold. It was downright imprudence."
CHAPTER VIII
JAPAN IN THE WAR
On August 15, 1914, the Empire of Japan issued an ultimatum to Germany.
She demanded the evacuation of Tsing-tau, the disarming of the warships
there and the handing over of the territory to Japan for ultimate
reversion to China. The time limit for her reply was set at 12 o'clock,
August 24th. To this ultimatum Germany made no reply, and at 2.30 P. M.,
August 23d, the German Ambassador was handed his passports and war was
declared.
The reason for the action of Japan was simple. She was bound by treaty
to Great Britain to come to her aid in any war in which Great Britain
might be involved. On August 4th a note was received from Great Britain
requesting Japan to safeguard British shipping in the Far East. Japan
replied that she could not guarantee the safety of British shipping so
long as Germany was in occupation of the Chinese province of Tsing-tau.
She suggested in turn that England agree to allow her to remove this
German menace. The British Government agreed, on the condition that
Tsing-tau be subsequently returned to China.
The Japanese Government in taking this stand was acting with courage and
with loyalty. Toward individual Germans she entertained no animosity.
She had the highest respect for German scholarship and German military
science. She had been sending her young men to German seats of learning,
and had based the reorganization of her army upon the German military
system. But she did not believe that a treaty was a mere "scrap of
paper," and was determined to fulfill her obligations in the treaty with
England.
It seems to have been the opinion of the highest Japanese military
authorities that Germany would win the war. Japan's statesmen, however,
believed that Germany was a menace to both China and Japan and had
lively recollections of her unfriendly attitude in connection with the
Chino-Japanese war and in the period that followed. Germany had been
playing the same game in China that she had played in the Mediterranean
and which had ultimately brought about the war.
The Chino-Japanese war had been a great Japanese triumph. One of Japan's
greatest victories had been the capture of Port Arthur, but the joy
caused in Japan had not ended before it was turned into mourning because
of German interference. Germany had then compelled Japan to quit Port
Arthur, and to hand over that great fort to Russia so that she herself
might take Kiao-chau without Russia's objection.
Japan had never forgotten or forgiven. The German seizure of Kiao-chau
had led to the Russian occupation of Port Arthur, the British occupation
of Wei-hai-wei and French occupation of Kwan-chow Bay. The vultures were
swooping down on defenseless China. This had led to the Boxer
disturbance of 1910, where again the Kaiser had interfered.
Japan, who recognized that her interests and safety were closely allied
with the preservation of the territorial integrity of China, had
proposed to the powers that she be permitted to send her troops to the
rescue of the beleaguered foreigners, but this proposition was refused
on account of German suspicion of Japan's motives. Later on, during the
Russo-Japanese war, Russia was assisted in many ways by the German
Government.
Furthermore, the popular sympathy with the Japanese was strongly with
the Allies. It was the Kaiser who started the cry of the "yellow peril,"
which had deeply hurt Japanese pride. Yet, even with this strong
feeling, it was remarkable that Japan was willing to ally herself with
Russia. She knew very well that after all the greatest danger to her
liberties lay across the Japan Sea. Russian autocracy, with its
militarism, its religious intolerance, its discriminating policy against
foreign interests in commerce and trade, was the natural opponent of
liberal Japan.
The immediate object of Japan in joining hands with England was to
destroy the German menace in the Pacific. Before she delivered her
ultimatum the Germans had been active; ignoring the rights of Japan
while she was still neutral they had captured a Russian steamer within
Japanese jurisdiction, as well as a number of British merchant vessels,
and even a few Japanese ships had been intercepted by German cruisers.
This was the disturbance to general peace in the Far East, which had
prompted England to request Japan's assistance.
Japan, when she entered the war, was at least twice as strong as when
she began the war with Russia. She had an army of one million men, and a
navy double the size of that which she had possessed when the Treaty of
Portsmouth was signed. As soon as war was declared she proceeded to act.
A portion of her fleet was directed against the German forces in the
Pacific, one squadron occupying Jaluit, the seat of government of the
Marshall Islands, on October 3d, but her main forces were directed
against the fortress of Tsing-tau.
The Germans had taken great pride in Tsing-tau, and had made every
effort to make it a model colony as well as an impregnable fortress.
They had built costly water works, fine streets and fine public
buildings. They had been making great preparations for a state of siege,
although it was not expected that they would be able to hold out for a
long time. There were hardly more than five thousand soldiers in the
fortress, and in the harbor but four small gunboats and an Austrian
cruiser, the Kaiserin Elizabeth. As Austria was not at war with Japan
the authorization of Japan was asked for the removal of the Kaiserin
Elizabeth to Shanghai, where she could be interned. The Japanese were
favorable to this proposition, but at the last moment instructions
arrived from Vienna directing the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to ask for
his passports at Tokio and the commander of the Kaiserin Elizabeth to
assist the Germans in the defense of Tsing-tau. The Germans also
received orders to defend their fortress to the very last. A portion of
the German squadron, under Admiral von Spee, had sailed away before the
Japanese attack, one of these being the famous commerce raider, the
Emden.
On the 27th of August the Japanese made their first move by taking
possession of some of the small islands at the mouth of the harbor of
Kiao-chau. From these points as bases they swept the surrounding waters
for mines, with such success that during the whole siege but one vessel
of their fleet was injured by a mine. On the 2d of September they landed
troops at the northern base of the peninsula upon which Tsing-tau was
situated, with the object of cutting off the fortress from the mainland.
The heavy rains which were customary at that season prevented much
action, but airplanes were sent which dropped bombs upon the wireless
station, electric power station and railway station of Kiao-chau, and
upon the ships in the harbor. On September 13th General Kamio captured
the railway station of Kiao-chau which stands at the head of the bay.
This placed him twenty-two miles from Tsing-tau itself. On September
27th he captured Prince Heinrich Hill giving him a gun position from
which he could attack the inner forts. On the 23d a small British force
arrived from Wei-hai-wei to co-operate with the Japanese.
[Illustration: Map of the city Tsing-Tau and Kiao-Chau Bay.]
THE GERMAN GIBRALTAR IN THE FAR EAST WHICH FELL TO THE JAPANESE
The combined forces then advanced until they were only five miles from
Tsing-tau. The German warships were bombarding the Japanese troops
fiercely, and were being replied to by the Japanese squadron in the
mouth of the harbor. The great waste of German ammunition led General
Kamio to the opinion that the Germans did not contemplate a long siege.
He then determined on a vigorous assault.
Before the attack was made he gave the non-combatants an opportunity of
leaving, and on the 15th of October a number of women and children and
Chinese were allowed to pass through the Japanese lines. On October 31st
the bombardment began, and the German forts were gradually silenced. On
November 2d the Kaiserin Elizabeth was sunk in the harbor.
The Allied armies were pushing their way steadily down, until, on
November 6th, their trenches were along the edge of the last German
redoubts. At 6 o'clock on that day white flags were floating over the
central forts and by 7.30 Admiral Waldeck, the German Governor, had
signed the terms of capitulation.
Germany's prize colony on the continent of Asia had disappeared. The
survivors, numbering about three thousand, were sent to Japan as
prisoners of war. Japanese losses were but two hundred and thirty-six
men killed. They had, however, lost one third-class cruiser, the
Takachiho, and several smaller crafts. The whole expedition was a
notable success. It had occupied much less time than either Japan or
Germany had expected, and the news was received in Germany with a
universal feeling of bitterness and chagrin.
After the Japanese capture of Kiao-chau Japan's assistance to the
Allies, while not spectacular, was extremely important, and its
importance increased during the last two years of the war. Her cruiser
squadrons did continuous patrol duty in the Pacific and in the China Sea
and even in the Indian Ocean. She occupied three groups of German
Islands in the South Sea, assisted in driving German raiders from the
Pacific, and by her efficiency permitted a withdrawal of British
warships to points where they could be useful nearer home. She patrolled
the Pacific coast of North and South America, landed marines to quell
riots at Singapore, and finally entered into active service in European
waters by sending a destroyer squadron to the assistance of the Allies
in the Mediterranean.
But while the aid of Japan's navy was important to the Allies, her
greatest assistance to the Allied cause was what she did in supplying
Russia with military supplies. The tremendous struggle carried on by
Russia's forces during the first years prevented an easy German victory,
and was only made possible through the assistance of Japan. Enormous
quantities of guns, ammunition, military stores, hospital and Red Cross
supplies, were sent into Russia, with skilled officers and experts to
accompany them.
In the last year of the war Japan once more came prominently in the
public eye in connection with the effort made by the Allies to protect
from the Russian Bolsheviki vast stores of ammunition which had been
landed in ports of Eastern Siberia. She was compelled to land troops to
do this and to preserve order in localities where her citizens were in
danger. Upon the development of the Czecho-Slovak movement in Eastern
Siberia a Japanese force, in association with troops from the United
States and Great Britain, was landed to protect the Czecho-Slovaks from
Bolsheviki treachery. These troops succeeded in their object, and
throughout the latter period of the war kept Eastern Siberia friendly to
the Allied cause. In this campaign there was but little blood shed. The
expedition was followed by the strong sympathy of the allied world which
was full of admiration for the loyalty and courage of the Czecho-Slovaks
and their heroic leaders.
CHAPTER IX
CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST
Long before the declaration of war the German military experts had made
their plans. They recognized that in case of war with Russia, France
would come to the rescue of its ally. They hoped that Italy, and felt
sure that England, would remain neutral, but, no doubt, had provided for
the possibility that these two nations would join the ranks of their
foes. They recognized that they would be compelled to fight against
greatly superior numbers, but they had this advantage, that they were
prepared to move at once, while England was unprepared, and Russia, with
enormous numbers, was so unprovided with railroad facilities that it
would take weeks before her armies would be dangerous.
Their plan of campaign, then, was obvious. Leaving in the east only such
forces as were necessary for a strong defense, they would throw the bulk
of their strength against the French. They anticipated an easy march to
Paris, and then with France at their mercy they would gather together
all their powers and deal with Russia. But they had underestimated both
the French power of resistance, and the Russian weakness, and in
particular they had not counted upon the check that they were to meet
with in gallant Belgium.
The Russian mobilization was quicker by far than had been anticipated.
Her armies were soon engaged with the comparatively small German forces,
and met with great success.
To understand the Russian campaign one must have some knowledge of the
geography of western Russia. Russian Poland projects as a great
quadrilateral into eastern Germany. It is bounded on the north by East
Prussia, on the south by Galicia, and the western part reaches deep into
Germany itself. The land is a broad, level plain, through which from
south to north runs the River Vistula. In the center lies the capital,
Warsaw, protected by a group of fortresses. The Russian army, therefore,
could not make a direct western advance until it had protected its
flanks by the conquest of East Prussia on the north, and Galicia on the
south.
By the beginning of the third week in August the first Russian armies
were ready. Her forces were arranged as follows: Facing East Prussia was
the Army of the Niemen, four corps strong; the Army of Poland,
consisting of fifteen army corps, occupied a wide front from Narev on
the north to the Bug Valley; a third army, the Army of Galicia, directed
its line of advance southward into the country between Lemberg and the
River Sareth. The fortresses protecting Warsaw, still further to the
east, were well garrisoned, and in front of them to the west were troops
intended to delay any German advance from Posen. The Russian
commander-in-chief was the Grand Duke Nicholas, uncle of the late Czar,
and one of the most admirable representatives of the Russian at his
best; a splendid soldier, honest, straightforward, and patriotic, he was
the idol of his men. He had with him a brilliant staff, but the strength
of his army lay in its experience. They had learned war in the bitter
school of the Manchurian campaign.
The German force on the frontier was not less than five hundred thousand
men, and they were arranged for defense. Austria, in Galicia, had
gathered nearly one million men under the auspices of Frederick. The
first movement of these armies took place in East Prussia. The Army of
the Niemen had completed its mobilization early in August, and was under
the command of General Rennenkampf, one of the Russian leaders in
Manchuria. In command of the German forces was General von Francois, an
officer of Huguenot descent.
The first clash of these armies took place on the German frontier near
Libau, on August 3d. Two days later, the Russians crossed the frontier,
drove in the German advance posts, and seized the railway which runs
south and east of the Masurian Lakes. The German force fell back,
burning villages and destroying roads, according to their usual plan. On
the 7th of August the main army of Rennenkampf crossed the border at
Suwalki, advancing in two main bodies: the Army of the Niemen moving
north from Suwalki, the Army of the Narev marching through the region of
the Masurian Lakes. In the lake district they advanced toward Boyen, and
then directed their march toward Insterburg.
To protect Insterburg, General van Francois made his first stand at
Gumbinnen, where, on the 16th of August, the first important battle of
this campaign took place. The result was the defeat and retirement of
the Germans, and von Francois was forced to fall back on Koenigsberg.
Meantime, the Army of the Narev, under General Samsonov, was advancing
through the country west of the Masurian Lakes. On the 20th his vanguard
came upon a German army corps, strongly entrenched at the northwest end
of the lakes. The Germans were defeated, and fled in great disorder
toward Koenigsberg, abandoning their guns and wagons. Many prisoners
were taken, and the Russians found themselves masters of all of East
Prussia except that inside the Koenigsberg line. They then marched on
Koenigsberg, and East Prussia was for a moment at the mercy of the
conqueror.
Troops were left to invest Koenigsberg, and East Prussia was overrun
with the enemy. The report as to the behavior of these troops met with
great indignation in Germany; but better information insists that they
behaved with decorum and discretion. The peasantry of East Prussia,
remembering wild tales of the Cossacks of a hundred years before, fled
in confusion with stories of burning and slaughter and outrage.
Germany became aroused. To thoroughly understand the effect of the
Russian invasion of East Prussia, one must know something of the
relations of that district with the German Empire. Historically, this
was the cradle of the Prussian aristocracy, whose dangerous policies had
alarmed Europe for so many decades. The Prussian aristocracy originated
in a mixture of certain west German and Christian knights, with a pagan
population of the eastern Baltic plain. The district was separate from
Poland and never fell under the Polish influence. It was held by the
Teutonic knights who conquered it in a sort of savage independence. The
Christian faith, which the Teutonic knights professed to inculcate, took
little root, but such civilization as Germany itself had absorbed did
filter in. The chief noble of Borussia, the governing Duke, acquired in
time the title of King, and it was here, not in Berlin, nor in
Brandenburg, that the Hohenzollern power originated.
[Illustration: Painting]
THE FURY OF A COSSACK CHARGE
Some of the most bitter fighting of the war took place on the
snow-covered heights of the Carpathians when Russia's armies struggled
with the foe. Here is illustrated a charge by Cossacks on an Austrian
battery. There is nothing in warfare quite like the furious onslaught
of the little men of the steppes on their wiry ponies.
[Illustration: Painting]
HIDE AND SEEK IN THE BALTIC
A Zeppelin flying over a British submarine in the stormy sea.
[Illustration: Map bounded by Koenigsberg on the North, Warsaw on the East,
Cracow on the South and Posen on the West.]
THE EASTERN FIGHTING ZONE
East Prussia, therefore, had a sentimental importance in the eyes of the
Prussian nobility. The Prussian Royal House, in particular, had toward
this country an especial regard. Moreover, it was regarded by the
Germans as a whole as their rampart against the Slav, a proof of the
German power to withstand the dreaded Russian. That this sacred soil
should now be in the hands of a Cossack army was not to be borne. The
Kaiser acted at once.
Large forces were detached from the west and sent to the aid of the
eastern army. A new commander was appointed. He was General von
Hindenburg, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War who had been for some
years retired. After his retirement he devoted his time to the study of
East Prussia, especially the ground around the Masurian Lakes. He became
more familiar with its roads, its fields, its marshes, its bogs than any
of the peasants who spent their lives in the neighborhood of the lakes.
Before his retirement, in the annual maneuvers, he had often rehearsed
his defense against Russian invaders. Indeed report, perhaps unfounded,
described his retirement to the displeasure of the Emperor William at
being badly worsted in one of these mimic combats. He had prevented the
country from being cleared and the swamps from being drained, arguing
that they were worth more to Germany than a dozen fortresses. A man of
rugged strength, his face suggesting power and tenacity, he was to
become the idol of the German people.
His chance had come. His army consisted of remnants of the forces of von
Francois and large reinforcements sent him from the west. In all,
perhaps, he had with him 150,000 men, and he had behind him an admirable
system of strategic railways.
The Russian High Command was full of confidence. Rennenkampf had
advanced with the Army of the Niemen toward Koenigsberg, whose fall was
reported from time to time, without foundation. Koenigsberg was in fact
impregnable to armies no stronger than those under Rennenkampf's
command. Samsonov with the Army of the Narev, had pushed on to the
northeastern point of the lakes, and defeated the German army corps at
Frankenau. Misled by his success, he decided to continue his advance
through the lake region toward Allenstein. He marched first toward
Osterode, in the wilderness of forest, lake and marsh, between
Allenstein and the Lower Vistula. His force numbered 200,000 men, but
the swamps made it impossible to proceed in mass. His column had to be
temporarily divided, nor was he well informed as to the strength of his
enemy. On Wednesday, the 26th of August, his advance guards were
everywhere driven in. As he pushed on he discovered the enemy in great
numbers, and late in the day realized that he was facing a great army.
Von Hindenburg had taken a position astride the railway from Allenstein
to Soldau, and all access to his front was barred by lakes and swamps.
He was safe from frontal attack, and could reinforce each wing at
pleasure. From his right ran the only two good roads in the region, and
at his left was the Osterode railway. On the first day he stood on the
defensive, while the Russians, confident of victory, attacked again and
again. Some ground was won and prisoners captured, and the news of a
second victory was sent to western Europe.
The battle continued, however, until the last day of August and is known
as the battle of Tannenberg, from a village of that name near the
marshes. Having worn down his enemy, von Hindenburg counter-attacked.
His first movement was on his right. This not only deceived Samsonov and
led him to reinforce his left, but also enabled von Hindenburg to seize
the only good road that would give the Russian army a chance of retreat.
Meanwhile the German general was hurrying masses of troops northeastward
to outflank the Russian right. While the Russians were reinforcing one
flank, he was concentrating every man he could upon the other. Then his
left swept southward, driving in and enveloping the Russian right, and
Samsonov was driven into a country full of swamps and almost without
roads.
To thoroughly understand the plight of the Russian army one must have
some idea of the character of the Masurian Lake district. It was
probably molded by the work of ice in the past. Great glaciers, in their
progress toward the sea, have ground out hundreds of hollows, where are
found small pools and considerable lakes. From these glaciers have been
dropped patches of clay which hold the waters in wide extents of marsh
and bog. The country presents a monotonous picture of low, rounded
swells and flats, interspersed with stunted pine and birch woods. The
marshes and the lakes form a labyrinth, difficult to pass even to those
familiar with the country. The Masurian region is a great trap for any
commander who has not had unlimited acquaintance with the place.
Causeways, filled with great care, and railroads permit an orderly
advance, but in a confused retreat disaster at once threatens.
This was the ground that von Hindenburg knew so well. The Russians
resisted desperately, but their position could not be held. Disaster
awaited them. They found their guns sinking to the axle-trees in mire.
Whole regiments were driven into the lakes and drowned. On the last day
of battle, August 31st, Samsonov himself was killed, and his army
completely destroyed. Fifty thousand prisoners were taken with hundreds
of guns and quantities of supplies. Von Hindenburg had attained the
triumph of which he had so long dreamed.
It was an immensely successful example of that enveloping movement
characteristic of German warfare, a victory recalling the battle of
Sedan, and it was upon a scale not inferior to that battle.
The news of this great triumph reached Berlin upon the anniversary of
the battle of Sedan, and on the same day that the news came from the
west that von Kluck had reached the gates of Paris and it had a profound
effect upon the German mind. They had grown to believe that the Germans
were a sort of superman; these wonderful successes confirmed them in
this belief.
No longer did they talk of a mere defense in the east; an advance on
Warsaw was demanded and von Hindenburg was acclaimed the greatest
soldier of his day. The Emperor made him Field Marshal, and placed him
in command of the Teutonic armies in the east.
But von Hindenburg was not satisfied. The remnant of the defeated army
had fled toward Narev, and without losing a moment von Hindenburg set
off in pursuit. Rennenkampf, all this time, strange to say, had made no
move, and at the news of Samsonov's disaster he abandoned the siege of
Koenigsberg and retreated toward the Niemen. At Gumbinnen he fought a
rear-guard action with the German left, but had made up his mind that
the Niemen must be the Russian line of defense. Von Hindenburg,
following, crossed the Russian frontier and in the wide forests near
Augustovo there was much fighting.
[Illustration: Photographs]
LEADING GERMAN GENERALS
Von Hindenburg, Chief of the German General Staff; von Ludendorff,
Strategist of the General Staff; von Moltke, dismissed by the Kaiser
for incompetency; von Mackensen, Commander in the East; Crown Prince
Rupprecht of Bavaria, Army Commander in the West.
[Illustration: Photograph]
Photo by Press Illustrated Service.
THE GERMAN GENERAL STAFF
von Mackensen, von Moltke, Crown Prince Wilhelm, von Francois,
von Falkenhayn, von Beseler, von Bethmann-Hollweg, von Bulow,
Duke Albrecht, Ludendorf, von Einem, von Hindenburg, von Heeringen,
Crown Prince Rupprecht, von Kluck, von Haeseler, von Tirpitz,
Kaiser Wilhelm II, von Emmich
This action, described as the first battle of Augustovo, was only a
rear-guard action, the Russians desiring merely to delay the enemy for a
day or two. German reports, however, described it as a victory only
second in importance to Tannenberg. Von Hindenburg then occupied
Suwalki. He apparently had become over confident, and hardly realized
that Rennenkampf was continually being reinforced by the Russian
mobilization.
The Russian High Command understood the situation very well. Their aim
was to keep von Hindenburg busy on the Niemen, while their armies in the
south were overwhelming the fleeing Austrians. Von Hindenburg was
deceived, and continued his advance until he got into serious trouble.
His movement had begun on September 7th; his army consisted of the four
corps with which he had won Tannenberg, and large reinforcements from
Germany, including at least one guards battalion, and a number of Saxons
and Bavarians. The country is one vast mixture of marsh and lake and
bog. The roads are few, and advance must therefore be slow and
difficult. Rennenkampf made no attempt to delay him beyond a little
rear-guard fighting. The German army reached the Niemen on September
21st, and found behind it the Russian army in prepared positions, with
large reinforcements from Vilna.
The river at this point was wide and deep, and hard to cross. The battle
of the Niemen Crossings was an artillery duel. The Russians quietly
waited in their trenches to watch the Germans build their pontoon
bridges. Then their guns blew the bridges to pieces. Thereupon von
Hindenburg bombarded the Russian lines hoping to destroy the Russian
guns. On Friday, the 26th, his guns boomed all day; the Russians made no
reply. So on the morning of the 27th he built bridges again, and again
the Russians blew them to pieces. On the 28th he gave the order for
retreat.
He realized that the game wasn't worth the candle; he might easily be
kept fighting on the Niemen for months, while the main armies of the
Russians were crossing Austria. Von Hindenburg conducted the retreat
with a skill which came to him naturally from his knowledge of the
marshes.
Rennenkampf followed him closely, keeping up persistent attacks through
the woods and marshes. The path of the retreating army lay through the
forest of Augustovo, a country much like that around the Masurian Lakes,
and there the Germans suffered heavy losses. Von Hindenburg managed,
however, to get the bulk of his forces back across the frontier and
continued his retreat to the intrenchments on the Masurian Lakes.
The Germans lost 60,000 men in killed, wounded and prisoners, and von
Hindenburg handed over the command of the German armies in East Prussia
to General von Schubert, and hastened south to direct the movement to
relieve the Austrians at Cracow.
But quite as important as the campaign in East Prussia was the struggle
in Galicia. When the war began the Germans contemplated merely defense
in their own domain; such offense as was planned was left to the
Austrians farther south.
Galicia is a long, level country lying north of the Carpathian
Mountains, and in this country Austria-Hungary had gathered together a
force of hardly less than one million men. A quarter of these lay in
reserve near the mountains; the remaining three-quarters was divided
into two armies; the first, the northern army, being under the command
of General Dankl, the second was that of von Offenberg. The base of the
first army was Przemysl; that of the second was Lemberg.
The first army, it was planned, was to advance into Russian territory in
the direction of Lublin. The second army, stationed southeast of the
first army, was to protect it from any Russians who might strike in upon
the south. The first army, therefore, contained more picked material
than the second, which included many troops from the southern parts of
the empire, including certain disaffected contingents. The first army
made its advance as soon as possible, and entered Russian territory on
the 11th of August. It went forward with very little loss and against
very little resistance. The Russian forces which were against it were
inferior in number, and fell back towards the Bug. The Austrians
followed, turning somewhat toward the east, when their advance was
checked by news of catastrophe in their rear. On the 14th of August the
Russian army under General Ruzsky crossed the frontier, and advanced
toward the Austrian second army.
The Russian army was in far greater strength than had been expected, and
when its advance was followed by the appearance upon the right flank of
von Offenberg's command, of yet another Russian army, under Brussilov,
the Austrian second army found itself in great danger. Ruzsky advanced
steadily from August 14th until, on the 21st, it was not more than one
day's advance from the outer works of Lemberg, and the third Russian
army under Brussilov was threatening von Offenberg's right flank.
Von Offenberg, underestimating the strength of the enemy, undertook to
give battle. The first outpost actions were successful for the
Austrians, and helped them in their blunder. On the 24th of August the
two Russian armies effected a junction, and their Austrian opponents
found themselves threatened with disaster. An endeavor was made to
retreat, but the retreat turned into a rout. On the 28th Tarnopol was
captured by the Russians, and the Austrian army found itself compelled
to fall back upon defense positions to the south and east of Lemberg
itself.
The attack of the Russian armies was completely successful. The Austrian
army was driven from its positions, and on September 4th the Austrians
evacuated Lemberg and the Russian forces took possession of the town.
The Austrians fled. The population welcomed the conquerors with the
greatest enthusiasm. An immense quantity of stores of every kind were
captured by the Russians together with at least 100,000 prisoners. There
was no looting, nor any kind of outrage. The Russian policy was to make
friends of the inhabitants of Galicia.
But there was no halt after Lemberg. Brussilov divided his army, and
sent his left wing into the Carpathian passes; his center and right
moved west toward Przemysl; while Ruzsky moved northwest to reinforce
the Russian army on the Bug. Meanwhile the position of Dankl's army was
perilous in the extreme. There were two possible courses, one to fall
back and join the remnants of von Offenberg's army, the other to attack
at once, before the first Russian army could be reinforced, and if
victorious to turn on Ruzsky.
Dankl's army was now very strong. He had received reinforcements, not
only from Austria but from Germany. On the 4th of September he attacked
the Russian center; his attack was a failure, although he outnumbered
the Russians. The battle continued until the tenth.
Everywhere the Austrians were beaten, and driven off in ignominious
retreat. The whole Austrian force fled southward in great disorder; a
part directed its flight toward Przemysl, others still farther west
toward Cracow. Austria had been completely defeated. Poland was clear of
the enemy. The Russian flag flew over Lemberg, while the Russian army
was marching toward Cracow. The Russian star was in the ascendant.
But the Austrian armies had not been annihilated. An army of nearly a
million men cannot be destroyed in so short a time. The Austrian failure
was due in part to the disaffection of some of the elements of the army,
and in part to the poor Austrian generalship. They had underestimated
their foe, and ventured on a most perilous plan of campaign.
Russian generalship had been most admirable, and the Russian generals
were men of ability and experience. Brussilov had seen service in the
Turkish War of 1877. Ruzsky was a professor in the Russian War Academy.
In the Japanese war he had been chief of staff to General Kaulbars, the
commander of the Second Manchurian army. Associated with him was General
Radko Dmitrieff, an able officer with a most interesting career. General
Dmitrieff was born in Bulgaria, when it was a Turkish province. He
graduated at the Military School at Sofia, and afterwards at the War
Academy at Petrograd. On his return to Bulgaria he commanded a regiment
in the Serbian-Bulgarian war. Later he became mixed up in the conspiracy
against Prince Alexander, and was forced to leave Bulgaria. For ten
years he served in the Russian army, returning to Bulgaria on the
accession of Prince Ferdinand. Later on he became Chief of the General
Staff, and when the Balkan war broke out he commanded one of the
Bulgarian armies, won several important victories, and became a popular
hero of the war. Disgusted with the political squabbles which followed
the war, he returned to Russia as a general in the Russian army. With
men like these in command, the Russian Empire was well served.
After the decisive defeat of the Austrian army under General Dankl,
certain changes were made in the Russian High Command. General Ruzsky
was made commander of the center, which was largely reinforced. General
Ivanov was put in command of the armies operating in Galicia with
Dmitrieff and Brussilov as his chief lieutenants. Brussilov's business
was to seize the deep passes in the Carpathians and to threaten Hungary.
Dmitrieff's duty was to press the Austrian retreat, and capture the main
fortresses of central Galicia.
There are two great fortresses on the River San, Jaroslav and Przemysl,
both of them controlling important railroad routes. Jaroslav on the main
line from Lemberg to Cracow, Przemysl with a line which skirts the
Carpathians, and connects with lines going south to Hungary. Jaroslav
was fortified by a strong circle of intrenchments and was looked to by
Austria for stout resistance. The Austrians were disappointed, for
Ivanov captured it in three days, on the 23d of September. Dmitrieff
found Przemysl a harder nut to crack. It held out for many months, while
operations of greater importance were being carried on by the Russian
armies. The plans of the Russian generals in some respects were not
unlike the plan previously suggested as that of the German High Command.
At the beginning of the war they had no desire to carry on a powerful
offensive against Germany. The expedition into East Prussia was
conducted more for political than for military purposes. The real
offensive at the start was to be against Austria. The Russian movements
were cautious at first, but the easy capture of Lemberg, the fall of
Jaroslav, and the demoralization of the Austrian armies, encouraged more
daring strategy. With the Germans stopped on the north, little aid to
the Austrians could come from that source. The Grand Duke Nicholas was
eager to strike a great blow before the winter struck in, so his armies
swept to the great Polish city of Cracow. The campaign against Austria
also had a political side.
Russia had determined upon a new attitude toward Poland. On August 15th
the Grand Duke Nicholas, on behalf of the Czar, had issued a
proclamation offering self-government to Russian Poland. Home rule for
Poland had long been a favorite plan with the Czar. Now he promised, not
only to give Russian Poland home rule, but to add to it the Polish
peoples in Austria and Germany. This meant that Austria and Germany
would have to give up Galicia on the one hand, and Prussian Poland on
the other, if they should lose the war. In the old days Poland had been
one of the greatest kingdoms in Europe, with a proud nobility and high
civilization. She was one of the first of the great Slav peoples to
penetrate the west. Later she had protected Europe against Tartar
invasion, but internal differences had weakened her, and, surrounded by
enemies, she had first been plundered, and later on divided between
Austria, Russia and Prussia. Never had the Poles consented to this
destruction of their independence. Galicia had constantly struggled
against Austria; Prussian Poland was equally disturbing to the Prussian
peace, and Russia was only able to maintain the control of her Polish
province by the sword.
Of the three the Pole was probably more inclined to keep on friendly
terms with Russia, also a Slav people. The policy of the Czar encouraged
this inclination and produced disaffection among the Poles in Galicia
and in Posen. Moreover, it gave Russia the sympathy of the world which
had long regarded the partition of Poland as a political crime. It
encouraged the Czecho-Slavs and other dissatisfied portions of the
Austrian Empire.
The results were seen immediately in the demoralization of the Austrian
armies where considerable numbers of Czecho-Slovak troops deserted to
the Russian army, and later in the loyalty to Russia of the Poles, and
their refusal, even under the greatest German pressure, to give the
German Empire aid.
CHAPTER X
THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY ON THE SEA
Captain Mahan's thesis that in any great war the nation possessing the
greater sea power is likely to win, was splendidly illustrated during
the World War.
The great English fleets proved the insuperable obstacle to the
ambitious German plans of world dominion. The millions of soldiers
landed in France from Great Britain, and its provinces, the millions of
Americans transported in safety across the water, and the enormous
quantities of supplies put at the disposal of the Allies depended,
absolutely, upon the Allied control of the sea routes of the world. With
a superior navy a German blockade of England would have brought her to
terms in a short period, and France, left to fight alone, would have
been an easy victim. The British navy saved the world.
Germany had for many years well understood the necessity of power upon
the sea. When the war broke out it was the second greatest of the sea
powers. Its ships were mostly modern, for its navy was a creation of the
past fifteen years, and its development was obviously for the purpose of
attacking the British supremacy. The father of this new navy was a naval
officer by the name of von Tirpitz, who, in 1897, had become the German
Naval Minister. With the aid of the Emperor he had aroused among the
Germans a great enthusiasm for maritime power, and had built up a navy
in fifteen years, which was second only to the English navy.
Von Tirpitz was an interesting character. In appearance he looked like
an old sea-wolf who had passed his life on the wave, but such a thought
would be a mistake. The great admiral's work was done on land; he was an
organizer, a diplomatist, and a politician. He created nothing new; in
all its details he merely copied the English fleet. He is tall, heavily
built, with a great white beard, forked in the middle. He is a man of
much dignity, with a smile which has won him renown. He might have been
Chancellor of the Empire but he preferred to devote himself to the navy,
to prove that the future of Germany is on the seas. His glories are the
Lusitania, the fleet safely anchored at Kiel, and the long rows of
innocent victims of the submarine.
He was born in 1850 at Kustrion on the Ildor, when the German navy was
only a little group of worthless boats. In 1865 he entered the School of
Cadets, in 1869 he was gazetted lieutenant, in 1875 he was
lieutenant-commander with a reputation as an able organizer. In 1891 he
was appointed Chief of Staff at Kiel. This was his opportunity, and he
set himself at the task of creating and protecting the submarine
division of the navy. As time went on he grew in importance. In 1898 he
became Assistant Secretary of State at the Admiralty in Berlin. Two
years later he became vice-admiral. His admirers recognized his powers,
and he was called the master. In 1899 a patent of nobility was conferred
upon him. In 1902 he gained permission to build 13,000-ton war ships,
and the following year he was made admiral. In 1907 enormous
appropriations were made at his desire for the enlargement of the fleet.
In 1908 Emperor William conferred on him the Order of the Black Eagle.
In 1914 the Kiel Canal was completed under his direction, and he
informed the Emperor that the fleet was ready. It is only fair to add
that in all his plans he had the active support of his Imperial Master.
The Kaiser, too, had dreamed a dream. Von Tirpitz admired the English.
His children had been brought up in England, as was also his wife. He
imitated the English, but on the day of the declaration of war he
absolutely forbade his family to talk English, and he made a bonfire of
his fine scientific library of English books. The Kaiser treated Von
Tirpitz as his friend, asked his advice, and followed his counsel. His
son, Sub-Lieutenant Wolf Von Tirpitz, studied at Oxford, and is on the
most friendly terms with many English gentlemen of importance. He was on
board the Mainz, which was sunk off Helgoland in August, 1916. In full
uniform he swam for twenty minutes, before being picked up by one of the
boats of the cruiser Liverpool. He was a lucky prisoner of war. The
German battleships and cruisers which represent the toil of von Tirpitz
for more than half a century, lay hidden away in the shelter of the Kiel
Canal during the war to be ingloriously surrendered at its end. His name
will remain linked with that of the Lusitania.
[Illustration: Painting: Seven sailors firing a large deck gun against
a sinking ship in the background.]
DRIVING THE GERMAN COMMERCE RAIDERS OFF THE SEAS
The British light cruiser, "Highflyer," sinking the "Kaiser Wilhelm
der Grosse" off the West Coast of Africa early in the war. The
commerce-destroyer was attacking a British steamer when the cruiser
came up and sent her to the bottom. Inserts show both ships.
[Illustration: Painting: Torpedo crossing behind the path of a small ship.]
Copyright International Film Service.
ESCAPING A TORPEDO BY RAPID MANEUVERING
This destroyer escaped a torpedo from a hunted submarine by quickly
turning. Generally the torpedo travels at about fifteen feet under
water.
The German High Sea Fleet, at the beginning of the war, consisted of
forty-one battleships, seven battle cruisers, nine armored cruisers,
forty-nine light cruisers, one hundred and forty-five destroyers, eighty
torpedo boats, and thirty-eight submarines. Under the direction of Von
Tirpitz the navy had become democratic and had drawn to it many able men
of the middle class. Its training was highly specialized and the
officers were enthusiasts in their profession. The navy of
Austria-Hungary had also expanded in recent years under the inspiration
of Admiral Montecuculi. At the outbreak of the war the fleet comprised
sixteen battleships, two armored and twelve light cruisers, eighteen
destroyers, eighty-five torpedo boats and eleven submarines. The Allies
were much more powerful. The French navy had in the matter of invention
given the lead to the world, but its size had not kept pace with its
quality. At the beginning of the war France had thirty-one battleships,
twenty-four armored cruisers, eight light cruisers, eighty-seven
destroyers, one hundred and fifty-three torpedo boats and seventy-six
submarines. Russia, after the war with Japan, had begun the creation of
a powerful battle fleet, which had not been completed when war was
declared. At that time she had on the Baltic four dreadnaughts, ten
armored cruisers, two light cruisers, eighty destroyers and twenty-four
submarines, and a fleet of about half the strength in the Black Sea.
The English fleet had reached a point of efficiency which was
unprecedented in its history. The progress of the German sea power had
stimulated the spirit of the fleet, and led to a steady advance in
training and equipment. The development of armament, and of battleship
designing, the improvement in gunnery practice, the revision of the rate
of pay, the opening up of careers from the lower deck, and the provision
of a naval air service are landmarks in the advance. In the navy
estimates of March, 1914, Parliament sanctioned over 51,000,000 Pounds
for a naval defense, the largest appropriation for the purpose ever
made. The home fleet was arranged in three units, the first fleet was
divided into four battle squadrons, together with the flagship of the
commander-in-chief. The first squadron was made up of eight battleships,
the second squadron contained eight, the third eight and the fourth
four. Attached to each fleet was a battle cruiser squadron, consisting
of four ships in the first fleet, four in the second, four in the third
and five in the fourth.
The fourth also contained a light cruiser squadron, a squadron of six
gunboats for mine sweeping, and four flotillas of destroyers, each with
a flotilla cruiser attached. The second fleet was composed of two battle
squadrons, the first containing eight pre-dreadnaughts, and the second
six. Attached to this fleet were also two cruiser squadrons, a mine
layer squadron of seven vessels, four patrol flotillas, consisting of
destroyers and torpedo boats, and seven flotillas of submarines. A third
fleet contained two battle squadrons, mainly composed of old ships, with
six cruiser squadrons. The English strength, outside home waters,
consisted of the Mediterranean fleet, containing three battle cruisers,
four armored cruisers, four ordinary cruisers and a flotilla of
seventeen destroyers, together with submarines and torpedo boats. In
eastern waters there were a battleship, two cruisers, and four sloops.
In the China squadron there were one battleship, two armored cruisers,
two ordinary cruisers, and a number of gunboats, destroyers, submarines,
and torpedo boats. In New Zealand there were four cruisers. The
Australian fleet contained a battle cruiser, three ordinary cruisers,
three destroyers and two submarines. Other cruisers and gunboats were
stationed at the Cape, the west coast of Africa, and along the western
Atlantic. At the outbreak of the war two destroyers were purchased from
Chile, and two Turkish battleships, building in England, were
commandeered by the government.
It is evident that the union of France and Britain made the Allies
easily superior in the Mediterranean Sea, so that France was able to
transport her African troops in safety, and the British commerce with
India and the East could safely continue. The main field of the naval
war, therefore, was the North Sea and the Baltic, where Germany had all
her fleet, except a few naval raiders. The entrance to the Baltic was
closed to the enemy by Denmark, which, as a neutral, was bound to
prevent an enemy fleet from passing. Germany, however, by means of the
Kiel Canal, could permit the largest battle fleet to pass from the
Baltic to the North Sea. The German High Sea Fleet was weaker than the
British home fleet by more than forty per cent, and the German policy,
therefore, was to avoid a battle, until, through mine layers and
submarines, the British power should have been sufficiently weakened.
The form of the German coast made this plan easily possible. The various
bays and river mouths provided safe retreat for the German ships, and
the German fleet were made secure by the fortifications along the coast.
On July the 29th, 1914, at the conclusion of the annual maneuvers,
instead of being demobilized as would have been usual, the Grand Fleet
of Great Britain sailed from Portland along the coast into the mists,
and from that moment dominated the whole course of the war.
From the 4th of August, the date of the declaration of war, the oceans
of the world were practically rid of enemy war ships, and were closed to
enemy mercantile marine. Although diplomacy had not yet failed, the
masters of the English navy were not caught napping. The credit for this
readiness has been given to Mr. Winston Churchill, one of the first
Lords of the Admiralty, who had divined the coming danger. When the
grand fleet sailed it seemed to disappear from English view.
Occasionally some dweller along the coast might see an occasional
cruiser or destroyer sweeping by in the distance, but the great
battleships had gone. Somewhere, in some hidden harbor, lay the vigilant
fleets of England.
Sea fighting had changed since the days of Admiral Nelson. The old
wooden ship belonged to a past generation. The guns of a battleship
would have sunk the Spanish Armada with one broadside. In this modern
day the battleship was protected by aircraft, which dropped bombs from
the clouds. Unseen submarines circled about her. Beneath her might be
mines, which could destroy her at the slightest touch. Everything had
changed but the daring of the English sailor.
In command of the Home fleet was Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. He had had a
distinguished career. Beginning as a lieutenant in the Egyptian War of
1882, he had become a commander in 1891. In 1897 he became a captain,
and served in China, commanding the Naval Brigade in the Pekin
Expedition of 1900, where he was severely wounded. Later he became naval
assistant to the Controller of the Navy, Director of Naval Ordnance and
Torpedoes, Rear-Admiral in the United Fleet, Lord Commissioner of the
Admiralty and Controller of the Navy, Vice-Admiral commanding the
Atlantic fleet, Vice-Admiral commanding the second division of the Home
fleet, and second Sea Lord of the Admiralty. He had distinguished
himself in the naval maneuvers of 1913, and was one of the officers
mainly responsible for the development of the modern English navy. He
had the confidence of his colleagues, and a peculiar popularity among
the British seamen.
On the day after the declaration of war, the first shots were fired.
German mine layers, it is now believed, in disguise, had been dropping
mines during the preceding week over a wide area of the North Sea. On
the 5th of August the mine layer, Koenigen Luise, was sunk by the
destroyer Lance, and on August 6th the British light cruiser Amphion
struck one of the mines laid by the Koenigen Luise and was sunk with
great loss of life. On August 9th, German submarines attacked a cruiser
squadron without causing any damage, and one submarine was sunk.
It was in the Mediterranean, however, that the greatest interest was
felt during the first week of the war. Two German war ships, the Goeben
and the Breslau, were off the Algerian coast when war broke out. It is
probable that when these ships received their sailing orders, Germany
depended on the assistance of Italy, and had sent these ships to its
assistance. They were admirably suited for commerce destroyers. They
began by bombarding the Algerian coast towns of Bona and Phillipe, doing
little damage. They then turned toward the coast of Gibraltar, but found
before them the British fleet. Eluding the British they next appeared at
Messina. There the captains and officers made their wills and deposited
their valuables, including signed portraits of the Kaiser, with the
German consul. The decks were cleared for action, and with the bands
playing they sailed out under a blood-red sunset.
However, they seem to have been intent only on escape, and they went at
full speed eastward toward the Dardanelles, meeting in their way only
with the British cruiser Gloucester, which, though much inferior in
size, attacked them boldly but was unable to prevent their escape. On
entering Constantinople they were reported as being sold to the Turkish
Government, the Turks thus beginning the line of conduct which was
ultimately to bring them into the war.
Picturesque as this incident was it was of no importance as compared
with the great British blockade of Germany which began on the 4th of
August. German merchantmen in every country of the empire were seized,
and hundreds of ships were captured on the high seas. Those who escaped
to neutral ports were at once interned. In a week German commerce had
ceased to exist. A few German cruisers were still at large but it was
not long before they had been captured, or driven into neutral ports.
Among the most picturesque of these raiders were the Emden and the
Koenigsberg. The Emden, in particular, interested the world with her
romantic adventures. Her story is best told in the words of
Lieutenant-Captain von Mucke, and Lieutenant Gyssing, whose return to
Germany with forty-four men, four officers and one surgeon, after the
destruction of the ship, was a veritable Odyssey.
[Illustration: Painting]
A BATTLE OF FOUR ELEMENTS
British monitors shelling the German land batteries near Nieuport.
German submarines were actively engaged in trying to torpedo these
monitors and the British monoplane was useful for giving the range to
the ship and reporting the accuracy of the shots.
[Illustration: Painting]
TORPEDOING OF THE BRITISH BATTLESHIP, "ABOUKIR"
In the first few weeks of the war, when the navies of the world were
still at open warfare, during a sharp engagement off the Hook of
Holland in the North Sea the British warships "Aboukir", "Cressy" and
"Hogue" fell victims to the enemy. This sketch shows the "Aboukir"
after a German torpedo had found its mark in her hull.
"We on the Emden had no idea where we were going, as, on August 11,
1914, we separated from the cruiser squadron, escorted only by the
coaler Markomannia. Under way the Emden picked up three officers from
German steamers. That was a piece of luck, for afterward we needed many
officers for the capturing and sinking of steamers, or manning them when
we took them with us. On September 10th, the first boat came in sight.
We stopped her; she proved to be a Greek tramp returning from England.
On the next day we met the Indus, bound for Bombay, all fitted up as a
troop transport, but still without troops. That was the first one we
sunk. The crew we took aboard the Markomannia. Then we sank the Lovat,
a troop transport ship, and took the Kambinga along with us. One gets
used quickly to new forms of activity. After a few days, capturing ships
became a habit. Of the twenty-three which we captured most of them
stopped after our first signal; when they didn't, we fired a blank shot.
Then they all stopped. Only one, the Clan Matteson, waited for a real
shot across the bow before giving up its many automobiles and
locomotives to the seas.
"The officers were mostly very polite, and let down rope ladders for us.
After a few hours they would be on board with us. We ourselves never set
foot in their cabins, nor took charge of them. The officers often acted
on their own initiative, and signaled to us the nature of their cargo.
Then the commandant decided as to whether to sink the ship or take it
with us. Of the cargo we always took every thing we could use,
particularly provisions. Many of the English officers and sailors made
good use of the hours of transfer to drink up the supply of whisky
instead of sacrificing it to the waves. I heard that one captain was
lying in tears at the enforced separation from his beloved ship, but on
investigation found that he was merely dead drunk, The captain on one
ship once called out cheerily 'Thank God, I've been captured.' He had
received expense money for the trip to Australia, and was now saved half
the journey."
Parenthetically it may be remarked, that the Emden's captain, Karl von
Mueller, conducted himself at all times with chivalrous bravery,
according to the accounts of the English themselves, who in their
reports say of him, admiringly, "He played the game." Captain von
Mucke's account continues:
"We had mostly quiet weather, so that communication with captured ships
was easy. They were mostly dynamited, or else shot close to the water
line. At Calcutta we made one of our richest hauls, the Diplomat, chock
full of tea, we sunk $2,500,000 worth. On the same day the Trabbotch,
too, which steered right straight towards us, was captured. By now we
wanted to beat it out of the Bay of Bengal, because we had learned from
the papers that the Emden was being keenly searched for. By Rangoon we
encountered a Norwegian tramp, which, for a cash consideration, took
over all the rest of our prisoners of war.
"On September 23d we reached Madras, and steered straight for the
harbor. We stopped still 3,000 yards before the city. Then we shot up
the oil tanks; three or four of them burned up and illuminated the city.
Two days later we navigated around Ceylon, and could see the lights of
Colombo. On the same evening we gathered in two more steamers, the King
Lund, and Tywerse. The next evening we got the Burresk, a nice steamer
with 500 tons of nice Cardiff coal. Then followed in order, the Ryberia,
Foyle, Grand Ponrabbel, Benmore, Troiens, Exfort, Graycefale, Sankt
Eckbert, Chilkana. Most of them were sunk. The coal ships were kept. All
this happened before October 20th. Then we sailed southward to Deogazia,
southwest of Colombo."
The captain then tells with much gusto a story of a visit paid to the
Emden by some English farmers, at Deogazia, who were entertained royally
by the Emden officers. They knew nothing about the war, and the Emden
officers told them nothing. His narrative continues:
"Now we went toward Miniko, where we sank two ships more. On the next
day we found three steamers to the north, one of them with much desired
Cardiff coal. From English papers on the captured ships we learned that
we were being hotly pursued. One night we started for Penang. On October
28th we raised a very practicable fourth smokestack (for disguise). The
harbor of Penang lies in a channel difficult of access. There was
nothing doing by night. We had to do it at daybreak. At high speed,
without smoke, with lights out, we steered into the mouth of the
channel. A torpedo boat on guard slept well. We steamed past its small
light. Inside lay a dark silhouette. That must be a warship. We
recognized the silhouette dead sure. That was the Russian cruiser
Jemtchud. There it lay, there it slept like a rat, no watch to be seen.
They made it easy for us. Because of the narrowness of the harbor we had
to keep close; we fired the first torpedo at four hundred yards.
"Then, to be sure, things livened up a bit on the sleeping warship. At
the same time we took the crew quarters under fire five shells at a
time. There was a flash of flame on board, then a kind of burning
aureole. After the fourth shell the flame burned high. The first torpedo
had struck the ship too deep, because we were too close to it. A second
torpedo which we fired off from the other side didn't make the same
mistake. After twenty seconds there was absolutely not a trace of the
ship to be seen.
"But now another ship which we couldn't see was firing. That was the
French D'Ivrebreville, toward which we now turned at once. A few minutes
later an incoming torpedo destroyer was reported. It proved to be the
French torpedo boat Mousquet. It came straight toward us. That's always
remained a mystery to me, for it must have heard the shooting. An
officer whom we fished up afterward explained to me that they had only
recognized we were a German warship when they were quite close to us.
The Frenchman behaved well, accepted battle and fought on, but was
polished off by us with three broadsides. The whole fight with those
ships lasted half an hour. The commander of the torpedo boat lost both
legs by the first broadside. When he saw that part of his crew were
leaping overboard he cried out 'Tie me fast. I will not survive after
seeing Frenchmen desert their ship.' As a matter of fact he went down
with his ship, as a brave captain, lashed fast to the mast. That was my
only sea-fight.
"On November 9th I left the Emden in order to destroy the wireless plant
on the Cocos Island. I had fifty men, four machine guns and about thirty
rifles. Just as we were about to destroy the apparatus it reported
'Careful. Emden near.' The work of destruction went smoothly. Presently
the Emden signaled to us 'Hurry up.' I pack up, but simultaneously wails
the Emden's siren. I hurry up to the bridge, see the flag 'Anna' go up.
That means weigh anchor. We ran like mad into our boat, but already the
Emden's pennant goes up, the battle flag is raised, they fire from
starboard. The enemy is concealed by the island, and therefore not to be
seen, but I see the shell strike the water. To follow and catch the
Emden is out of question. She is going twenty knots, I only four with my
steam pinnace. Therefore I turn back to land, raise the flag, declare
German laws of war in force, seize all arms, set out my machine guns on
shore in order to guard against a hostile landing. Then I run again in
order to observe the fight."
The cable operator at Cocos Island gives the following account of what
happened from this point. After describing the sudden flight of the
Emden, he goes on: "Looking to the eastward we could see the reason for
this sudden departure, for a warship, which we afterwards learned was
the Australian cruiser Sydney, was coming up at full speed in pursuit.
The Emden did not wait to discuss matters, but, firing her first shot at
a range of about 3,700 yards, steamed north as hard as she could go. At
first the firing of the Emden seemed excellent, while that of the Sydney
was somewhat erratic. This, as I afterward learned, was due to the fact
that the Australian cruiser's range finder was put out of action by one
of the only two shots the Germans got home. However, the British gunners
soon overcame any difficulties that this may have caused, and settled
down to their work, so that before long two of the Emden's funnels had
been shot away. She also lost one of her masts quite early in the fight.
Both blazing away with their big guns the two cruisers disappeared below
the horizon, the Emden being on fire.
"Early the next morning, Tuesday, November 10th, we saw the Sydney
returning, and at 8.45 A. M. she anchored off the island. From various
members of the crew I gathered some details of the running fight with
the Emden. The Sydney, having an advantage in speed, was able to keep
out of range of the Emden's guns, and to bombard with her own heavier
metal. The engagement lasted eighty minutes, the Emden finally running
ashore on North Keeling Island, and becoming an utter wreck. Only two
German shots proved effective, one of these failed to explode, but
smashed the main range finder and killed one man, the other killed three
men and wounded fourteen.
"Each of the cruisers attempted to torpedo the other, but both were
unsuccessful, and the duel proved a contest in hard pounding at long
range. The Sydney's speed during the fighting was twenty-six knots, and
the Emden's twenty-four knots. The British ship's superiority of two
knots enabled her to choose the range at which the battle should be
fought and to make the most of her superior guns. Finally, with a number
of wounded prisoners on board, the Sydney left here yesterday, and our
few hours of war excitement were over."
Captain Mucke's return home from the Cocos Island was filled with the
most extraordinary adventures, and when he finally arrived in country
controlled by his Allies he was greeted as a hero.
While the story of the Emden especially interested the world, the
Koenigsberg also caused much trouble to English commerce. Her chief
exploit occurred on the 20th of September, when she caught the British
cruiser Pegasus in Zanzibar harbor undergoing repairs. The Pegasus had
no chance, and was destroyed by the Koenigsberg's long-range fire.
Nothing much was heard later of the Koenigsberg, which was finally
destroyed by an English cruiser, July 11, 1915.
The exploits of these two German commerce raiders attracted general
attention, because they were the exceptions to the rule. The British, on
the other hand, were able to capture such German merchantmen as ventured
on the sea without great difficulty, and as they did not destroy their
capture, but brought them before prize courts, the incidents attracted
no great attention. The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which had been fitted
up as a commerce destroyer by the Germans at the beginning of the war,
as was the Spreewald of the Hamburg-American Line, and the Cap
Trafalgar, were caught and sunk during the month of September. On the
whole, English foreign trade was unimpaired.
But though the German fleet had been bottled up in her harbors, Germany
was not yet impotent. There remained the submarine.
Up to 1905 Germany had not a single submarine. The first German
submarine was launched on August 30, 1905. Even then it was considered
merely an experiment. In February, 1907, it was added to the register of
the fleet. On January 1, 1901, there were only four nations that
possessed submarines, France, with fourteen; the United States, with
eight; England, with six, of which not one was completed, and finally
Italy, with two. In 1910, Germany appropriated 18,750,000 marks for
submarines, and in 1913, 25,000,000 marks. On January 1, 1914, the total
number of submarines of all nations was approximately four hundred.
Early in the war the submarine became a grave menace to the English navy
and to English commerce. On the 5th of September the Pathfinder, a light
cruiser, was torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life. On September
22d, three cruisers, the Cressy, Hogue, and Aboukir were engaged in
patrolling the coast of Holland. A great storm had been raging and the
cruisers were not protected by the usual screen of destroyers. At
half-past six in the morning the seas had fallen and the cruisers
proceeded to their posts. The report of Commander Nicholson, of the
Cressy, of what followed gives a good idea of the effectiveness of the
submarine.
"The Aboukir," says this report, "was struck at about 6.25 A. M. on the
starboard beam. The Hogue and Cressy closed, and took up a position, the
Hogue ahead of the Aboukir, and the Cressy about four hundred yards on
her port beam. As soon as it was seen that the Aboukir was in danger of
sinking, all the boats were sent away from the Cressy, and a picket boat
was hoisted out without steam up. When cutters full of the Aboukir's men
were returning to the Cressy, the Hogue was struck, apparently under the
aft 9.2 magazine, as a very heavy explosion took place immediately.
Almost directly after the Hogue was hit we observed a periscope on our
port bow about three hundred yards off. Fire was immediately opened, and
the engines were put full speed ahead with the intention of running her
down. . . .
"Captain Johnson then maneuvered the ship so as to render assistance to
the crews of the Hogue and Aboukir. About five minutes later another
periscope was seen on our starboard quarter, and fire was opened. The
track of the torpedo she fired at a range of from 500 to 600 yards was
plainly visible, and it struck us on the starboard side just before the
after bridge. The ship listed about ten degrees to the starboard and
remained steady. The time was 7.15 A. M. All the water-tight doors, dead
lights and scuttles had been securely closed before the torpedoes left
the ship. All mess stools and table shores and all available timber
below and on deck had been previously got up and thrown overside for the
saving of life. A second torpedo fired by the same submarine missed and
passed about ten feet astern.
"About a quarter of an hour after the first torpedo had hit, a third
torpedo fired from the submarine just before the starboard beam, hit us
under the No. 5 boiler room. The time was 7.30 A. M. The ship then began
to heel rapidly, and finally turned keel up remaining so for about
twenty minutes before she finally sank. It is possible that the same
submarine fired all three torpedoes at the Cressy."
Of the total crews of 1,459 officers and men only 779 were saved. The
survivors believed that they had seen at least three submarines, but the
German official account mentions only one, the U-9, under
Captain-Lieutenant Otto Weddigen whose account of this battle confirms
the report of Commander Nicholson. Referring to the reports that a
flotilla of German submarines had attacked the cruisers, he says:
"These reports were absolutely untrue. U-9 was the only submarine on
deck." He adds: "I reached the home port on the afternoon of the 23d and
on the 24th went to Wilhelmshaven to find that news of my effort had
become public. My wife, dry-eyed when I went away, met me with tears.
Then I learned that my little vessel and her brave crew had won the
plaudit of the Kaiser who conferred upon each of my co-workers the Iron
Cross of the second class and upon me the Iron Crosses of the first and
second classes."
Weddigen was the hero of the hour in Germany. He had with him
twenty-five men. He seems to have acted with courage and skill, but it
is also evident that the English staff work was to blame. Three such
vessels should never have been sent out without a screen of destroyers,
nor should the Hogue and the Cressy have gone to the rescue of the
Aboukir. A few days after the disaster the English Admiralty issued the
following statement:
The sinking of the Aboukir was of course an ordinary hazard of
patrolling duty. The Hogue and Cressy, however, were sunk because they
proceeded to the assistance of their consort, and remained with engines
stopped, endeavoring to save life, thus presenting an easy target to
further submarine attacks. The natural promptings of humanity have in
this case led to heavy losses, which would have been avoided by a strict
adhesion to military consideration. Modern naval war is presenting us
with so many new and strange situations that an error of judgment of
this character is pardonable. But it has become necessary to point out
for the future guidance of His Majesty's ships that the conditions which
prevail when one vessel of a squadron is injured in the mine field, or
is exposed to submarine attack, are analogous to those which occur in
action, and that the rule of leaving ships to their own resources is
applicable, so far, at any rate, as large vessels are concerned.
On the 28th of August occurred the first important naval action of the
war, the battle of Helgoland. From the 9th of August German cruisers had
shown activity in the seas around Helgoland and had sunk a number of
British trawlers. The English submarines, E-6 and E-8, and the light
cruiser Fearless, had patrolled the seas, and on the 21st of August the
Fearless had come under the enemy's shell fire. On August 26th the
submarine flotilla, under Commodore Keyes, sailed from Harwich for the
Bight of Helgoland, and all the next day the Lurcher and the Firedrake,
destroyers, scouted for submarines. On that same day sailed the first
and third destroyer flotillas, the battle cruiser squadron, first light
cruiser squadron, and the seventh cruiser squadron, having a rendezvous
at this point on the morning of the 28th.
The morning was beautiful and clear, so that the submarines could be
easily seen. Close to Helgoland were Commodore Keyes' eight submarines,
and his two small destroyers. Approaching rapidly from the northwest
were Commodore Tyrwhitt's two destroyer flotillas, a little to the east
was Commodore Goodenough's first light cruiser squadron. Behind this
squadron were Sir David Beatty's battle cruisers with four destroyers.
To the south and west of Helgoland lay Admiral Christian's seventh
cruiser squadron.
Presently from behind Helgoland came a number of German destroyers,
followed by two cruisers; and the English submarines, with the two small
destroyers, fled westwards, acting as a decoy. As the Germans followed,
the British destroyer flotillas on the northwest came rapidly down. At
the sight of these destroyers the German destroyers fled, and the
British attempted to head them off.
According to the official report the principle of the movement was to
cut the German light craft from home, and engage it at leisure on the
open sea.
But between the two German cruisers and the English cruisers a fierce
battle took place. The Arethusa was engaged with the German Ariadne, and
the Fearless with the Strasburg. A shot from the Arethusa shattered the
fore bridge of the Ariadne and killed the captain, and both German
cruisers drew off toward Helgoland.
Meanwhile the destroyers were engaged in a hot fight. They sunk the
leading boat of the German flotilla and damaged a dozen more. Between
nine and ten o'clock there was a lull in the fight; the submarines, with
some of the destroyers, remained in the neighborhood of Helgoland, and
the Germans, believing that these boats were the only hostile vessels in
the neighborhood, determined to attack them.
The Mainz, the Koln, and the Strasburg came again on the scene, and
opened a heavy fire on some of the boats of the first flotilla which
were busy saving life. The small destroyers were driven away, but the
seamen in the boats were rescued by an English submarine. The Arethusa
and the Fearless, with the destroyers in their company, engaged with
three enemy cruisers. The Strasburg, seriously injured, was compelled to
flee. The boilers of the Mainz blew up, and she became a wreck. The Koln
only remaining and carrying on the fight.
The English destroyers were much crippled, and as the battle had now
lasted for five hours any moment the German great battleships might come
on the scene. A wireless signal had been sent to Sir David Beatty,
asking for help, and about twelve o'clock the Falmouth and the
Nottingham arrived on the scene of action. By this time the first
destroyer flotilla was out of action and the third flotilla and the
Arethusa had their hands full with the Koln. The light cruisers were
followed at 12.15 by the English battle cruisers, the Lion came first,
and she alone among the battle cruisers seems to have used her guns. Her
gun power beat down all opposition. The Koln made for home, but the
Lion's guns set her on fire. The luckless Ariadne hove in sight, but the
terrible 13.5-inch guns sufficed for her. The battle cruisers circled
around, and in ten minutes the Koln went to the bottom.
At twenty minutes to two, Admiral Beatty turned homeward. The German
cruisers Mainz, Koln, and the Ariadne had been sunk; the Strasburg was
seriously damaged. One destroyer was sunk, and at least seven seriously
injured. About seven hundred of the German crew perished and there were
three hundred prisoners. The British force returned without the loss of
a single ship. The Arethusa had been badly damaged, but was easily
repaired. The casualty list was thirty-two killed and fifty-two wounded.
The battle was fought on both sides with great gallantry, the chief
glory belonging to the Arethusa and the Fearless who bore the brunt of
the battle. The strategy and tactical skill employed were admirable, and
the German admiral, von Ingenohl from that time on, with one exception,
kept his battleships in harbor, and confined his activities to mine
laying and the use of submarines.
In the first days of the war the German mine layers had been busy. By
means of trawlers disguised as neutrals, mines were dropped off the
north coast of Ireland, and a large mine field was laid off the eastern
coast of England. One of the most important duties of the Royal Naval
Reserve was the task of mine sweeping. Over seven hundred mine-sweeping
vessels were constantly employed in keeping an area of 7,200 square
miles clear for shipping. These ships swept 15,000 square miles monthly,
and steamed over 1,100,000 miles in carrying out their duties.
It would be hard to overestimate the effect of the British blockade of
the German ports upon the fortunes of the war. The Germans for a long
time attempted, by the use of neutral ships, to obtain the necessary
supplies through Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland. Millions of
dollars' worth of food and munitions ultimately reached German hands.
The imports of all these nations were multiplied many times, but as the
time went on the blockade grew stricter and stricter until the Germans
felt the pinch. To conduct efficiently this blockade meant the use of
over 3,600 vessels which were added to the auxiliary patrol service.
Over 13,000 vessels were intercepted and examined by units of the
British navy employed on blockade channels.
The Germans protested with great vigor against this blockade, and
ultimately endeavored to counteract it by declaring unrestricted
submarine warfare. In fact, Great Britain had gone too far, and vigorous
protests from America followed her attempt to seize contraband goods in
American vessels.
The code of maritime law, adopted in the Declaration at Paris of 1856,
as well as the Declaration in London of 1909, had been framed in the
interests of unmaritime nations. The British plenipotentiaries had
agreed to these laws on the theory that in any war of the future Britain
would be neutral. The rights of neutrals had been greatly increased. A
blockade was difficult to enforce, for the right of a blockading power
to capture a blockade runner did not cover the whole period of her
voyage, and was confined to ships of the blockading force. A ship
carrying contraband could only be condemned if the contraband formed
more than half its cargo. A belligerent warship could destroy a neutral
vessel without taking it into a port for a judgment. The transfer of an
enemy vessel to a neutral flag was presumed to be valid, if effected
more than thirty days before the outbreak of war. Belligerents in
neutral vessels on the high seas were exempt from capture. The Emden
could justify its sinking of British ships, but the English were
handicapped in their endeavor to prevent neutral ships from carrying
supplies to Germany.
But Germany had become a law unto itself. And England found it necessary
in retaliation to issue orders in council which made nugatory many of
the provisions of the maritime code. The protests of the American
Government and those of other neutrals were treated with the greatest
consideration, and every endeavor was made that no real injustice should
be done. When America itself later entered the war these differences of
opinion disappeared from public view.
CHAPTER XI
THE SUBLIME PORTE
As soon as the diplomatic relations between Austria and Serbia had been
broken, the Turkish Grand Vizier informed the diplomatic corps in
Constantinople that Turkey would remain neutral in the conflict. The
declaration was not formal, for war had not yet been declared. The
policy of Turkey, as represented in the ministerial paper,
Tasfiri-Efkiar, was as follows:
"Turkey has never asked for war, as she always has worked toward
avoiding it, but neutrality does not mean indifference. The present
Austro-Serbian conflict is to a supreme degree interesting to us. In the
first place, one of our erstwhile opponents is fighting against a much
stronger enemy. In the natural course of things Serbia, which till
lately was expressing, in a rather open way, her solidarity as a nation,
still provoking us, and Greece, will be materially weakened. In the
second place, the results of this war may surpass the limits of the
conflict between two countries, and in that case our interests will be
just as materially affected. We must, therefore, keep our eyes open, as
the circumstances are momentarily changing, and do not permit us to let
escape certain advantages which we can secure by active, and rightly
acting, diplomacy. The policy of neutrality will impose on us the
obligation of avoiding to side with either of the belligerents. But the
same policy will force us to take all the necessary measures for
safeguarding our interests and our frontiers."
Whereupon a Turkish mobilization was at once ordered. The war had hardly
begun when Turkey received the news that her two battleships, building
in British yards, had been taken over by England. A bitter feeling
against England was at once aroused, Turkish mobs proceeded to attack
the British stores and British subjects, and attempts were even made
against the British embassy in Constantinople, and the British consulate
at Smyrna.
At this time Turkey was in a peculiar position. For a century she had
been on the best of terms with France and Great Britain. On the other
hand Russia had been her hereditary enemy. She was still suffering from
her defeat by the Balkan powers, and her statesmen saw in this war great
possibilities. She desired to recover her lost provinces in Europe, and
saw at once that she could hope for little from the Allies in this
direction.
[Illustration: Map: Black Sea to the North, Caspian Sea to the East,
Persian Gulf to South, Crete to the West.]
SKETCH OF TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY TURKEY IN 1914
For some years, too, German intrigues, and, according to report, German
money, had enabled the German Government to control the leading Turkish
statesmen. German generals, under General Liman von Sanders, were
practically in control of the Turkish army. The commander-in-chief was
Enver Bey, who had been educated in Germany and was more German than the
Germans. A new system of organization for the Turkish army had been
established by the Germans, which had substituted the mechanical German
system for the rough and inefficient Turkish methods. Universal
conscription provided men, and the Turkish soldier has always been known
as a good soldier. Yet as it turned out the German training did little
for him. Under his own officers he could fight well, but under German
officers, fighting for a cause which he neither liked nor understood, he
was bound to fail.
At first the Turkish mobilization was conducted in such a way as to be
ready to act in common with Bulgaria in an attack against Greek and
Serbian Macedonia, as soon as the Austrians had obtained a decisive
victory over the Serbians. The entry of Great Britain into the war
interfered with this scheme. Meantime, though not at war, the Turks were
suffering almost as much as if war had been declared. Greedy speculators
took advantage of the situation, and the government itself requisitioned
everything it could lay its hands on.
A Constantinople correspondent, writing on the 6th of August, says as
follows;
"Policemen and sheriffs followed by military officers are taking by
force everything in the way of foodstuffs, entering the bakeries and
other shops selling victuals, boarding ships with cargoes of flour,
potatoes, wheat and rice, and taking over virtually everything, giving
in lieu of payment a receipt which is not worth even the paper on which
it is written. In this way many shops are forced to close, bread has
entirely disappeared from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the capital
of a neutral country, is already feeling all the troubles and privations
of a besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared to inaccessible
heights, as provisions are becoming scarce. Actual hand-to-hand combats
are taking place in the streets outside the bakeries for the possession
of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with children in their arms are
seen crying and weeping with despair. Many merchants, afraid lest the
government requisition their goods, hasten to have their orders
canceled, the result being that no merchandise of any kind is coming to
Constantinople either from Europe or from Anatolia. Both on account of
the recruiting of their employees, and of shortage of coal, the
companies operating electric tramways of the city have reduced their
service to the minimum, as no power is available for the running of the
cars. Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of the closed doors of
the various banking establishments, where large posters are to be seen
bearing the inscription 'Closed temporarily by order of the government.'"
Immediately after war was declared between Germany and Russia the Porte
ordered the Bosporus and Dardanelles closed to every kind of shipping,
at the same time barring the entrances of these channels with rows of
mines. The first boat to suffer from this measure was a British
merchantman which was sunk outside the Bosporus, while another had a
narrow escape in the Dardanelles. A large number of steamers of every
nationality waited outside the straits for the special pilot boats of
the Turkish Government, in order to pass in safety through the dangerous
mine field. This measure of closing the straits was suggested to Turkey
by Austria and Germany, and was primarily intended against Russia, as it
was feared that her Black Sea fleet might force its way into the Sea of
Marmora and the AEgean.
On August 2d the Turkish Parliament was prorogued, so that all political
power might center around the Imperial throne. A vigorous endeavor was
made to strengthen the Turkish navy. Djemal Pasha was placed at its head
with Arif Bey as chief of the naval staff. Talaat Bey and Halil Bey were
sent to Bucharest to exchange views with Roumanian statesmen, and
representatives of the Greek Government, in regard to the outstanding
Greco-Turkish difficulties.
On September 10th an official announcement from the Sublime Porte was
issued defining in the first place many constitutional reforms, and in
particular abolishing the capitulation, that is, the concessions made by
law to foreigners, allowing them participation in the administration of
justice, exemption from taxation, and special protection in their
business transactions. In abolishing these capitulations the Ottoman
Government declared that it would treat foreign countries in accordance
with the rules of international law, and that it was acting without any
hostile feeling against any of the foreign states.
The Allied governments formally protested against this action of the
Turkish Government. Meantime Constantinople was the center of most
elaborate intrigues. The Turkish Government grew more and more warlike,
and began to threaten, not only Greece, but Russia and the Triple
Entente as well. During this period the Turkish press maintained an
active campaign against England and the Allies. Every endeavor was made
by the Sublime Porte to secure Roumanian or Bulgarian co-operation in a
militant policy. The Allies, seeing the situation, made many promises to
Bulgaria, Greece and Roumania. Bulgaria was offered Adrianople and
Thrace; Greece was to have Smyrna, and Roumania the Roumanian provinces
in Austria. The jealousy of these powers of each other prevented an
agreement. The influence of Germany became more and more preponderant
with the Ottoman Empire; indeed, it is probable that an understanding
had existed between the two powers from the beginning. The action of the
Turkish Government in regard to the Goeben and Breslau could hardly have
been possible unless with a previous understanding. At last the rupture
came. The following was the official Turkish version of the events which
led to the Turkish declaration of war:
"While on the 27th of October a small part of the Turkish fleet was
maneuvering on the Black Sea, the Russian fleet, which at first confined
its activities to following and hindering every one of our movements,
finally, on the 29th, unexpectedly began hostilities by attacking the
Ottoman fleet. During the naval battle which ensued the Turkish fleet,
with the help of the Almighty, sank the mine layer Pruth, inflicted
severe damage on one of the Russian torpedo boats, and captured a
collier. A torpedo from the Turkish torpedo boat Gairet-i-Millet sank
the Russian destroyer Koubanietz, and another from the Turkish torpedo
boat Mouavenet-i-Millet inflicted serious damage on a Russian coast
guard ship. Three officers and seventy-two sailors rescued by our men
and belonging to the crews of the damaged and sunken vessels of the
Russian fleet have been made prisoners. The Ottoman Imperial fleet,
glory be given to the Almighty, escaped injury, and the battle is
progressing favorably for us. Information received from our fleet, now
in the Black Sea, is as follows:
"From accounts of Russian sailors taken prisoners, and from the presence
of a mine layer among the Russian fleet, evidence is gathered that the
Russian fleet intended closing the entrance to the Bosporus with mines,
and destroying entirely the Imperial Ottoman fleet, after having split
it in two. Our fleet, believing that it had to face an unexpected
attack, and supposing that the Russians had begun hostilities without a
formal declaration of war, pursued the scattered Russian fleet,
bombarded the port of Sebastopol, destroyed in the city of Novorossisk
fifty petroleum depots, fourteen military transports, some granaries,
and the wireless telegraph station. In addition to the above our fleet
has sunk in Odessa a Russian cruiser, and damaged severely another. It
is believed that this second boat was likewise sunk. Five other steamers
full of cargoes lying in the same port were seriously damaged. A
steamship belonging to the Russian volunteer fleet was also sunk, and
five petroleum depots were destroyed. In Odessa and Sebastopol the
Russians from the shore opened fire against our fleet."
[Illustration: Photographs and Paintings]
FAMOUS BRITISH GENERALS
General Smith-Dorrien, British Corps Commander in the famous retreat
from Mons; Generals Plumer, Rawlinson and Byng, Commanders on the
Western Front; General Birdwood, Commander of the Australian-New
Zealand troops at Gallipoli.
[Illustration: Photographs and Paintings]
FAMOUS FRENCH GENERALS
Marshal Petain, Commander-in-Chief of the French armies in the West;
Generals Mangin, Gouraud and Humbert, Army Commanders in the West;
Generals Gallieni, Commander of Paris, who sent forward an army in
taxicabs to save the day at the First Battle of the Marne.
The Sultan at once declared war against Russia, England and France, and
issued a proclamation to his troops, declaring that he had called them
to arms to resist aggression and that "the very existence of our Empire
and of three hundred million Moslems whom I have summoned by sacred
Fetwa to a supreme struggle, depend on your victory. Do not forget that
you are brothers in arms of the strongest and bravest armies of the
world, with whom we are now fighting shoulder to shoulder."
The Fetwa, or proclamation announcing a holy war, called upon all
Mussulmans capable of carrying arms, and even upon Mussulman women to
fight against the powers with whom the Sultan was at war. In this manner
the holy war became a duty, not only for all Ottoman subjects, but for
the three hundred million Moslems of the earth. On November 5th Great
Britain declared war against Turkey, ordered the seizure in British
ports of Turkish vessels, and, by an order in Council, annexed the
Island of Cyprus. On the 17th of December, the Khedive Abbas II, having
thrown in his lot with Turkey and fled to Constantinople, Egypt was
formally proclaimed a British Protectorate. The title of Khedive was
abolished, and the throne of Egypt, with the title of Sultan, was
offered to Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha, the eldest living prince of the
house of Mahomet Ali, an able and enlightened man. This meant that
Britain was now wholly responsible for the defense of Egypt. The new
Sultan of Egypt made his state entry on December 20th into the Abdin
Palace in Cairo. The progress of the new ruler was received with great
enthusiasm by thousands of spectators.
The King of England sent a telegram of congratulation with his promise
of support:
On the occasion when your Highness enters upon your high office I desire
to convey to your Highness the expression of my most sincere friendship,
and the assurance of my unfailing support in safeguarding the integrity
of Egypt, and in securing her future well being and prosperity. Your
Highness has been called upon to undertake the responsibilities of your
high office at a grave crisis in the national life of Egypt, and I feel
convinced that you will be able, with the co-operation of your
Ministers, and the Protectorate of Great Britain, successfully to
overcome all the influences which are seeking to destroy the
independence of Egypt and the wealth, liberty and happiness of its
people.
This was Britain's answer to the Turkish proclamation of war. The Turks
had not taken this warlike course with entire unanimity. The Sultan, the
Grand Vizier, and Djavid Bey were in favor of peace, but Enver Pasha and
his colleagues overruled them. The Odessa incident was unjustified
aggression, deliberately planned to provoke hostilities. The tricky and
corrupt German diplomacy had won its point.
It is interesting to observe that the proclamation of the holy war, a
favorite German scheme, fell flat. The Kaiser, and his advisers, had
counted much upon this raising of the sacred flag. The Kaiser had
visited Constantinople and permitted himself to be exploited as a
sympathizer with Mohammedanism. Photographs of him had been taken
representing him in Mohammedan garb, accompanied by Moslem priests, and
a report had been deliberately circulated throughout Turkey that he had
become a Moslem. The object of this camouflage was to stir up the
Mohammedans in the countries controlled by England, risings were hoped
for in Egypt and India, and German spies had been distributed through
those countries to encourage religious revolts. But there was almost no
response. The Sultan, it is true, was the head of the Church, but who
was the Sultan? The old Sultan, now dethroned, and imprisoned, or this
new and insignificant creature placed on the throne by the young Turk
party? The Mohammedan did not feel himself greatly moved.
At the beginning of the war Turkey found herself unable to make any move
to recover her provinces in Thrace. Greece and Bulgaria were neutral,
and could not be attacked. Placing herself, therefore, in the hands of
her German advisers, she moved her new army to those frontiers where it
could meet the powers with whom she was at war. In particular Germany
and Austria desired her aid in Transcaucasia against the Russian armies.
An attack upon Russia from that quarter would mean that many troops
which otherwise would have been used against the Central Powers must be
sent to the Caucasus. The Suez Canal, too, must be attacked. An
expedition there would compel Great Britain to send out troops, and
perhaps would encourage the hoped-for rebellion in Egypt and give an
opportunity for religious insurrection in India, where the Djehad was
being preached among the Mohammedan tribes in the northwest. The
Dardanelles, to be sure, might be threatened but the Germans had sent
there many heavy guns and fortifications had been built which, in expert
opinion, made Constantinople safe.
The Turkish offensive along her eastern frontier in Transcaucasia and
in Persia was first undertaken. The Persian Gulf had long been
controlled by Great Britain; even in the days of Elizabeth the East
India Company had fought with Dutch and Portuguese rivals for control of
its commerce. The English had protected Persia, suppressed piracy and
slavery, and introduced sanitary measures in the marshes along the
coast. They regarded a control of the Persian Gulf as necessary for the
prosperity of India and the Empire. The Turkish Government had never had
great power along the Persian Gulf. Bagdad, indeed, had been captured by
Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, but in eastern Arabia
lived many independent Arabian chieftains who had no idea of subjecting
themselves to Turkish rule.
For years Germany had been looking with jealous eyes in this direction.
Her elaborate intrigues with Turkey were mainly designed to open up the
way to the Persian Gulf. She had planned a great railway to open up
trade, and her endeavor to build the Bagdad Railway is a story in
itself. Her efforts had lasted for many years, but she found herself
constantly blocked by the agents of Great Britain.
Before the Ottoman troops were ready, the British in the Gulf had made a
start. On November 7th a British force under Brigadier-General Delamain
bombarded the Turkish fort at Falon, landed troops and occupied the
village. Sailing north from this point they disembarked at Sanijah,
where they intrenched themselves and waited for reinforcements. On
November 13th reinforcements arrived, and on November 17th the British
army advanced toward Sahain. From there they moved on Sahil, where they
encountered a Turkish force. Some lively fighting ensued and the Turks
broke and fled. Turkish casualties were about one thousand five hundred
men, the English killed numbered thirty-eight.
The British then moved on Basra, moving by steamer along the
Shat-el-Arab River. On November 22d Basra was reached and it was found
that the Turks had evacuated the place. A base camp was then prepared,
for it was certain that there would be further fighting. Bagdad was only
about three hundred miles distant; and fifty miles above Basra, at the
junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates, lies the town of Kurna where
the Turks were gathering an army. On December 4th an attack was made on
Kurna but without success. The British obtained reinforcements, but on
December 9th the Turkish garrison surrendered unconditionally. The
British troops then intrenched themselves, having established a
barricade against a hostile advance upon India.
Farther north the war was between Turkey and Russia. Since Persia had no
military power, each combatant was able to occupy that country whenever
they desired. The Turks advanced into Persia south of Lake Urmia, and,
meeting with no resistance from Persia, moved northward toward the
Russian frontier. On the 30th of January, 1915, Russian troops heavily
defeated the invaders and followed them south as far as Tabriz, which
they occupied and held. The Russian armies had also undertaken movements
in this section. In the extreme northwest of Persia a Russian column had
crossed the frontier, and occupied, on the 3d of November, the town of
Bayazid close to Mt. Ararat. Other columns entered Kurdestan, and an
expedition against Van was begun. Further north another Russian column
crossed the frontier and captured the town of Karakilissa, but was held
there by the Turks.
These were minor expeditions. The real struggle was in Transcaucasia,
where the main body of the Turkish army under Enver Pasha himself was in
action. At this point the boundaries of Turkey touch upon the Russian
Empire. To the north is the Great Russian fortress of Kars, to the south
and west the Turkish stronghold of Erzerum. The whole district is a
great mountain tangle, the towns standing at an altitude of 5,000 and
6,000 feet, surrounded by lofty hills. None of the roads are good, and
in winter the passes are almost impassable. In all the wars between
Russia and Turkey, these mountain regions have been the scenes of
desperate battles.
The Turkish plan of battle was to entice the Russians from Sarakamish
across the frontier, leading them on to some distance from their base,
then, while holding their front, a second force was to swing around and
attack them on the left flank. The plan was simple, the difficulty was
the swing of the left flank, which had to be made through mountain
paths, deeply covered with snow. The Turkish army was composed of about
150,000 men under the command of Hassan Izzet Pasha, but Enver, with a
large German staff was the true commander. The Russian army, under
General Woronzov was about 100,000 men.
Early in November the Russians crossed the frontier and reached
Koprikeui, which they occupied on the 20th of November. The Turkish
Eleventh corps was entrusted with the duty of holding the Russian
forces; the remainder of the army was to advance over the passes and
take their stations behind the Russian right. On December 25th the
Turkish attack began. The Eleventh corps forced back the Russians from
Koprikeui to Khorasan, while the extreme Turkish left was endeavoring to
outflank them. But the weather was desperate. A blizzard was sweeping
down the steeps. The Turkish forces were indeed able to carry out the
plan, for they obtained the position desired. But by this time they were
worn out, and half starved, and their attack on New Year's Day resulted
in their defeat and retreat. The Ninth corps was utterly wiped out, and
the remainder of the Turkish forces driven off in confusion. Only the
strenuous efforts of the Turkish Eleventh corps prevented a debacle.
After a three days' battle it, too, was broken, and with heavy losses it
retreated toward Erzerum. The snowdrifts and blizzards must have
accounted for not less than 50,000 of the Turkish troops. The result of
the battle made Russia safe in the Caucasus.
But the Germans had another use for the Turkish forces. England was in
control of Egypt and the Suez Canal. The German view of England's
position has been well stated by Dr. Paul Rohrbach:
"As soon as England acquired Egypt it was incumbent upon her to guard
against any menace from Asia. Such a danger apparently arose when
Turkey, weakened by her last war with Russia and by difficult conditions
at home, began to turn to Germany for support. And now war has come, and
England is reaping the crops which she has sown. England, not we,
desired this war. She knows this, despite all her hypocritical talk, and
she fears that, as soon as connection is established along the
Berlin-Vienna-Budapest-Sofia-Constantinople Line, the fate of Egypt
may be decided. Through the Suez Canal goes the route to all the lands
surrounding the Indian Ocean, and by way of Singapore to the western
shores of the Pacific. These two worlds together have about nine hundred
million inhabitants, more than half the population of the universe, and
India lies in a controlling position in their midst. Should England lose
the Suez Canal she will be obliged, unlike the powers in control of that
waterway, to use the long route around the Cape of Good Hope, and depend
on the good will of the South African Boers. The majority among the
latter have not the same views as Botha. However, it is too early to
prophesy, and it is not according to German ideas to imitate our
opponents by singing premature paeans of victory. But anyhow we are well
aware why anxious England already sees us on the road to India."
Following out this view a Turkish force was directed toward the Suez
Canal, while the German intriguers did their best to stir up revolt in
Egypt itself. The story of Egypt is one of the most interesting parts of
the world's history. In the early days of the world it led mankind. Its
peculiar geographical position at first gave it strength, and afterward
made it the prize for which all nations were ready to contend. In 1517
the Sultan Selim conquered Egypt and made it part of the Turkish realm,
and in spite of many changes the sovereignty of Constantinople had
continued. In recent years the misgovernment of the Khedive Ismael had
brought into its control France and Britain; then came the deposition of
Ismael, the revolt under Arabi, the bombardment of Alexandria and the
battle of Tel-el-Kebir. Since then Egypt has been occupied by Great
Britain, who restored order, defeated the armies of the Mahdi, and
turned Egyptian bankruptcy into prosperity. Lord Kitchener was the
English hero of the wars with the Mahdi, and Lord Cromer the
administrator who gave the Egyptian peasant a comfort unknown since the
days of the Pharaohs. With prosperity came political agitation, and
Germany, as has been seen, looked upon Egypt as fertile territory for
German propaganda.
Intrigue having failed in Egypt, a Turkish force was directed against
the Suez Canal. If that could be captured Great Britain could be cut off
from India. An expeditionary army of about 65,000 men was gathered under
the command of Djemal Pasha, the former Turkish Minister of Marine. He
had been bitterly indignant at the seizure of the two Turkish
dreadnaughts building in England, and was burning for revenge. But he
found great difficulties before him. To reach the Canal it was necessary
to cross a trackless desert, varying from 120 to 150 miles in width.
Over this desert there were three routes. The first touched the
Mediterranean coast at El-Arish and then went across the desert to
El-Kantara on the Canal, twenty-five miles south of Port Said. On this
route there were only a few wells, quite insufficient for an army. A
second route ran from Akaba, on the Red Sea, across the Peninsula of
Sinai to a point a little north of Suez. This was also badly supplied
with wells. Between the two was the central route. Leaving the
Mediterranean at El-Arish it ran up the valley called the Wady El-Arish
to where that valley touched the second road. There was no railway, nor
were these roads suitable for motor transports; for an army to move it
would be necessary either to build a railway or to improve the roads.
The best route for railway was the Wady El-Arish. The Suez Canal,
moreover, can be easily defended. It is over two hundred feet wide, with
banks rising to a height of forty feet. A railway runs along the whole
Canal, and most of the ground to the east is flat, offering a good field
of fire either to troops on the banks or to ships on the Canal.
A considerable force of British troops, under the command of
Major-General Sir John Maxwell, were assigned for the protection of the
Canal. About the end of October it was reported that 2,000 Bedouins were
marching on the Canal, and on November 21st a skirmish took place
between this force and some of the English troops in which the Bedouins
were repelled. Nothing more was heard for more than two months, but on
January 28, 1915, a small advance party from the Turkish army was beaten
back east of El-Kantara. British airmen watched the desert well and kept
the British army well informed of the Turkish movements. The Turks had
found it impossible to convey their full force across the desert, and
the forces which finally arrived seemed to have numbered only about
twelve thousand men. The main attack was not developed until February
2d.
According to an account in the London Times, on that date, the enemy
began to move toward the Ismailia Ferry. They met a reconnoitering party
of Indian troops of all arms, and a desultory engagement ensued to which
a violent sandstorm put a sudden end about three o'clock in the
afternoon. The main attacking force pushed forward toward its
destination after nightfall. From twenty-five to thirty galvanized iron
pontoon boats, seven and a half meters in length, which had been dragged
in carts across the desert, were hauled by hand toward the water. With
one or two rafts made of kerosene tins in a wooden frame, all was ready
for the attack. The first warning of the enemy's approach was given by a
sentry of a mountain battery who heard, to him, an unknown tongue across
the water. The noise soon increased. It would seem that Mudjah
Ideem--"Holy Warriors"--said to be mostly old Tripoli fighters,
accompanied the pontoon section, and regulars of the Seventy-fifth
regiment, for loud exultations, often in Arabic, of "Brothers, die for
the faith; we can die but once," betrayed the enthusiastic irregular.
The Egyptians waited until the Turks were pushing their boats into the
water, then the Maxims attached to the battery suddenly spoke, and the
guns opened at point-blank range at the men and boats crowded under the
steep bank opposite them. Immediately a violent fire broke out on both
sides of the Canal.
A little torpedo boat with a crew of thirteen, patrolling the Canal,
dashed up and landed a party of four officers and men to the south of
Tussum, who climbed up the eastern bank and found themselves in a
Turkish trench, and escaped by a miracle with the news. Promptly the
midget dashed in between the fires and enfiladed the eastern bank amid a
hail of bullets, and destroyed several pontoon boats lying unlaunched on
the bank. It continued to harass the enemy, though two officers and two
men were wounded.
As the dark, cloudy night lightened toward dawn fresh forces went into
action. The Turks, who occupied the outer, or day, line of the Tussum
post, advanced, covered by artillery, against the Indian troops, holding
the inner or night position, while an Arab regiment advanced against the
Indian troop at the Serapeum post. The warships on the Canal and lake
joined in the fray. The enemy brought some six batteries of field guns
into action from the slopes west of Kataiba-el-kaeli. Shells admirably
fused made fine practice at all the visible targets, but failed to find
the battery above mentioned which with some help from a detachment of
infantry, beat down the fire of the riflemen on the opposite bank and
inflicted heavy losses on the hostile supports advancing toward the
Canal.
Supported by land and naval artillery the Indian troops took the
offensive, the Serapeum garrison, which had stopped the enemy
three-quarters of a mile from the position, cleared its front, and the
Tussum garrison, by a brilliant counter-attack, drove the enemy back.
Two battalions of Anatolians of the Twenty-eighth regiment were thrown
into the fight, but the artillery gave them no chance, and by 3.30 in
the afternoon a third of the enemy, with the exception of a force that
lay hid in bushy hollows on the east bank between the two posts, were in
full retreat, leaving many dead, a large proportion of whom had been
killed by shrapnel. Meanwhile the warships on the lake had been in
action, a salvo from a battleship woke up Ismailia early, and crowds of
soldiers and some civilians climbed every available sand hill to see
what was doing, till the Turkish guns sent shells sufficiently near to
convince them that it was safer to watch from cover.
At about eleven in the morning two six-inch shells hit the Hardinge near
the southern entrance of the lake. They first damaged the funnel, and
the second burst inboard. Pilot Carew, a gallant old merchant seaman,
refused to go below when the firing opened and lost a leg. Nine others
were wounded, one or two merchantmen were hit but no lives were lost. A
British gunboat was struck. Then came a dramatic duel between the
Turkish big gun, or guns, and a warship. The Turks fired just over, and
then just short, at 9,000 yards. The warship sent in a salvo of more
six-inch shells than had been fired that day.
Late in the afternoon of the 3d there was sniping from the east bank
between Tussum and Serapeum, and a man was killed on the tops of a
British battleship. Next morning the sniping was renewed and the Indian
troops, moving out to search the ground, found several hundred of the
enemy in the hollow previously mentioned. During the fighting some of
the enemy, either by accident or design, held up their hands, while
others fired on the Punjabis, who were advancing to take the surrender,
and killed a British officer. A sharp fight with the cold steel
followed, and a British officer killed a Turkish officer with a sword
thrust in single combat. A body of a German officer with a white flag
was afterward found here, but there is no proof that the white flag was
used. Finally all the enemy were killed, captured or put to flight. With
this the fighting ended, and the subsequent operations were confined to
the rounding up of prisoners, and the capture of a considerable amount
of military material left behind. The Turks, who departed with their
guns and baggage during the night of the 3d, still seemed to be moving
eastward.
So ended the battle of the Suez Canal.
Two more incidents in the Turkish campaign remain to be noticed. Report
having come that the town of Akaba on the Red Sea was being used as a
mine-laying station, H. M. S. Minerva visited the place, and found it
occupied by soldiers under a German officer. The Minerva destroyed the
fort and the barracks and the government buildings. Another British
cruiser, with a detachment of Indian troops, captured the Turkish fort
at Sheik Said, at the southern end of the Red Sea. And so for the time
ended all Turkish movements against Great Britain. That such movements
should have been possible seems hard to believe. For a century the
British had been the friends and allies of the Turkish Government. In
the Crimean War their armies had fought side by side with the Turkish
troops against Russia. In the Russo-Turkish War Lord Beaconsfield, in
the negotiations which preceded the treaty of Berlin, had saved for
Turkey much of its territory. It was only the British influence and the
fear of the British power which had prevented Russia from taking
possession of Constantinople a half a century before. The English had
always been popular in Turkey and there was every reason at the
beginning of the war to believe that their popularity had not waned.
There is reason to believe that the average Turk had little sympathy
with the course of his government, and if a free expression of the
popular will had been possible the Turkish army would never have been
sent against either the Englishmen or the Frenchmen. But long years of
German propaganda had done their work. The power of Enver Pasha was
greater than that of the weakling Sultan and the war was forced upon the
Turkish people by German tools and German bribes.
CHAPTER XII
RESCUE OF THE STARVING
The sufferings of Belgium during the German occupation were terrible,
and attracted the attention and the sympathy of the whole world. To
understand conditions it is necessary to know something of the economic
situation. Since it had come under the protection of the Great Powers,
Belgium had developed into one of the greatest manufacturing countries
in the world. Nearly two million of her citizens were employed in the
great industries, and one million two hundred thousand on the farms. She
was peaceful, industrious and happy. But on account of the fact that
more than one-half of her citizenship earned their living by daily labor
she found it impossible to produce foodstuff enough for her own needs.
Seventy-eight per cent of her breadstuffs had to be imported. From her
own fields she could hardly supply her population for more than four
months.
The war, and the German occupation, almost destroyed business. Mines,
workshops, factories and mills were closed. Labor found itself without
employment and consequently without wages. The banks would extend no
credit. But even if there had been money enough it soon became apparent
that the food supply was rapidly going. The German invasion had come
when the crops were standing ripe upon the field. Those crops had not
been reaped, but had been trampled under foot by the hated German.
One feature of Belgian industrial life should be understood. Hundreds of
thousands of her workmen were employed each day in workshops at
considerable distances from their own homes. In times of peace the
morning and evening trains were always crowded with laborers going to
and returning from their daily toil. One of the first things seized upon
by the German officials was the railroads, and it was with great
difficulty that anyone, not belonging to the German army, could obtain
an opportunity to travel at all, and it was with still greater
difficulty that supplies of food of any kind could be transported from
place to place. Every village was cut off from its neighbor, every town
from the next town. People were unable even to obtain news of the great
political events which were occurring from day to day, and the food
supply was automatically cut off.
But this was not the worst. One of the first moves of the German
occupation was to quarter hundreds of thousands of troops upon their
Belgian victims, and these troops must be fed even though the Belgian
and his family were near starvation. Then followed the German seizure of
what they called materials for war. General von Beseler in a despatch to
the Kaiser, after the fall of Antwerp, speaks very plainly:
The war booty taken at Antwerp is enormous--at least five hundred cannon
and huge quantities of ammunition, sanitation materials, high-power
motor cars, locomotives, wagons, four million kilograms of wheat, large
quantities of flour, coal and flax wool, the value of which is estimated
at ten million marks, copper, silver, one armored train, several
hospital trains, and quantities of fish.
The Germans proceeded to commandeer foodstuffs and raw materials of
industry. Linseed oil, oil cakes, nitrates, animal and vegetable oils,
petroleum and mineral oils, wool, copper, rubber, ivory, cocoa, rice,
wine, beer, all were seized and sent home to the Fatherland. Moreover,
cities and provinces were burdened with formidable war contributions.
Brussels was obliged to pay ten million dollars, Antwerp ten million
dollars, the province of Brabant, ninety millions of dollars, Namur and
seventeen surrounding communes six million four hundred thousand
dollars. Finally Governor von Bissing, on the 10th of December, 1914,
issued the following decree:
A war contribution of the amount of eight million dollars to be paid
monthly for one year is imposed upon the population of Belgium. The
payment of these amounts is imposed upon the nine provinces which are
regarded as joint debtors. The two first monthly payments are to be made
by the 15th of January, 1915, at latest, and the following monthly
payments by the tenth of each following month to the military chest of
the Field Army of the General Imperial Government in Brussels. If the
provinces are obliged to resort to the issue of stock with a view to
procuring the necessary funds, the form and terms of these shares will
be determined by the Commissary General for the banks in Belgium.
At a meeting of the Provincial Councils the vice-president declared:
"The Germans demand these $96,000,000 of the country without right and
without reason. Are we to sanction this enormous war tax? If we listened
only to our hearts, we should reply 'No I ninety-six million times no!
because our hearts would tell us we were a small, honest nation living
happily by its free labor; we were a small, honest nation having faith
in treaties and believing in honor; we were a nation unarmed, but full
of confidence, when Germany suddenly hurled two million men upon our
frontiers, the most brutal army that the world has ever seen, and said
to us, 'Betray the promise you have given. Let my armies go by, that I
may crush France, and I will give you gold.' Belgium replied, 'Keep your
gold. I prefer to die, rather than live without honor.' The German army
has, therefore, crushed our country in contempt of solemn treaties. 'It
is an injustice,' said the Chancellor of the German Empire. 'The
position of Germany has forced us to commit it, but we will repair the
wrong we have done to Belgium by the passage of our armies.' They want
to repair the injustice as follows: Belgium will pay Germany
$96,000,000! Give this proposal your vote. When Galileo had discovered
the fact that the earth moved around the sun, he was forced at the foot
of the stake to abjure his error, but he murmured, 'Nevertheless it
moves.' Well, gentlemen, as I fear a still greater misfortune for my
country I consent to the payment of the $96,000,000 and I cry
'Nevertheless it moves.' Long live our country in spite of all."
At the end of a year von Bissing renewed this assessment, inserting in
his decree the statement that the decree was based upon article
forty-nine of The Hague Convention, relating to the laws and usages of
war on land. This article reads as follows: "If in addition to the taxes
mentioned in the above article the occupant levies other moneyed
contributions in the occupied territory, they shall only be applied to
the needs of the army, or of the administration, of the territory in
question." In the preceding article it says: "If in the territory
occupied the occupant collects the taxes, dues and tolls payable to the
state, he shall do so as far as possible in accordance with the legal
basis and assessment in force at the time, and shall in consequence be
bound to defray the expenses of the administration of the occupied
territories to the same extent as the National Government had been so
bound."
The $96,000,000 per annum was more than six times the amount of the
direct taxes formerly collected by the Belgian state, taxes which the
German administration, moreover, collected in addition to the war
assessment. It was five times as great as the ordinary expenditure of
the Belgian War Department.
[Illustration: Map: Denmark on the North, Elbe River on the East,
Switzerland on the South, Eastern England on the West.]
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN AND ALSACE-LORRAINE ACQUISITIONS
But this was not all. In addition to the more or less legitimate German
methods of plunder the whole country had been pillaged. In many towns
systematic pillage began as soon as the Germans took possession. At
Louvain the pillage began on the 27th of August, 1914, and lasted a
week. In small bands the soldiers went from house to house, ransacked
drawers and cupboards, broke open safes, and stole money, pictures,
curios, silver, linen, clothing, wines, and food. Great loads of such
plunder were packed on military baggage wagons and sent to Germany. The
same conditions were reported from town after town. In many cases the
houses were burnt to destroy the proof of extensive thefts.
Nor were these offenses committed only by the common soldiers. In many
cases the officers themselves sent home great collections of plunder.
Even the Royal Family were concerned in this disgraceful performance.
After staying for a week in a chateau in the Liege District, His
Imperial Highness, Prince Eitel Fritz and the Duke of Brunswick, had all
the dresses which were found in a wardrobe sent back to Germany. This is
said to be susceptible of absolute proof.
In addition to this form of plunder special pretexts were made use of to
obtain money. At Arlon a telephone wire was broken, whereupon the town
was given four hours to pay a fine of $20,000 in gold, in default of
which one hundred houses would be sacked. When the payment was made
forty-seven houses had already been plundered. Instance after instance
could be given of similar unjustifiable and exorbitant fines.
Under treatment like this Belgium was brought in a short time into
immediate sight of starvation. They made frantic appeals for help. First
they appealed to the Germans, but the German authorities did nothing,
though in individual cases German soldiers shared their army rations
with the people. Then an appeal was made to Holland, but Holland was a
nation much like Belgium. It did not raise food enough for itself, and
was not sure that it could import enough for its own needs.
From all over Belgium appeals were sent from the various towns and
villages to Brussels. But Brussels, too, was face to face with famine.
To cope with famine there were many relief organizations in Belgium.
Every little town had its relief committee, and in the larger cities
strong branches of the Red Cross did what they could. Besides such
secular organizations, there were many religious organizations,
generally under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church.
In Brussels a strong volunteer relief organization was formed on
September 5th under the patronage of the American and Spanish Ministers,
Mr. Brand Whitlock and the Marquis of Villalobar. This committee, known
as the Central Relief Committee, or more exactly La Comite Central de
Secours et d'Alimentation pour l'Agglomeration bruxelloise, did
wonderful work until the end of the war. But though there was plenty of
organization there were great difficulties ahead.
In order to import food, credit had to be established abroad, permission
had to be obtained to transport food stuffs into Belgium through the
British blockade. Permission to use the railroads and canals of Belgium
had to be obtained from Germany, and, most important of all, it had to
be made certain that no food thus imported should be seized by the
German troops.
Through the American and Spanish ministers permission was obtained from
Governor-General Kolmar von der Goltz to import food, and the
Governor-General also gave assurance that, "Foodstuffs of all sorts
imported by the committee to assist the civil population shall be
reserved exclusively for the nourishment of the civil population of
Belgium, and that consequently these foodstuffs shall be exempt from
requisition on the part of the military authorities, and shall rest
exclusively at the disposition of the committee."
With this assurance the Central Relief Committee sent Emil Francqui and
Baron Lambert, members of their committee, together with Mr. Hugh
Gibson, secretary of the American Legation, whose activities in behalf
of Belgium attracted much favorable notice, to the city of London, to
explain to the British Government the suffering that existed in Belgium,
and to obtain permission to transport food through the British blockade.
In the course of this work they appealed to the American Ambassador in
England, Mr. Walter Hines Page, and were introduced by him to an
American mining engineer named Herbert Clark Hoover, who had just become
prominent as the chairman of a committee to assist Americans who had
found themselves in Europe when the war broke out, and had been unable
to secure funds.
Mr. Hoover took up the matter with great vigor, and organized an
American committee under the patronage of the ministers of the United
States and of Spain in London, Berlin, The Hague and Brussels, which
committee obtained permission from the British Government to purchase
and transport through the British blockade, to Rotterdam, Holland,
cargoes of foodstuffs, to be ultimately transferred into Belgium and
distributed by the Belgian Central Relief Committee under the direction
of American citizens headed by Mr. Brand Whitlock.
[Illustration: Painting: Several ships and two airplanes.]
AN AIRPLANE CONVOY
Food ships successfully convoyed by seaplanes in clear weather when
submarines were easier to detect.
188 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
[Illustration: Painting]
BRITISH LIGHT ARTILLERY GETTING IN ON THE GALLOP
Always the guns must follow closely in the wake of the infantry to
break up German counter attacks and hold the ground gained. Here a
detachment of the Royal Horse Artillery storms through a deserted
Flanders village, straining every nerve to save those few seconds that
may mean the saving or the loss of the new positions won.
The following brief notices, in connection with this committee appeared
in the London Times:
October 24 1914.--A commission has been set up in London, under the
title of The American Commission for Relief in Belgium. The Brussels
committee reports feeding 300,000 daily.
November 4.--The Commission for Relief in Belgium yesterday issued their
first weekly report, 3 London Wall Buildings. A cargo was received
yesterday at Brussels just in time. Estimated monthly requirements,
60,000 tons grain, 15,000 tons maize, 3,000 tons rice and peas. Approved
by the Spanish and American ministers, Brussels.
The personality of the various gentlemen who devoted themselves to
Belgian relief is interesting, not only because of what they did, but
because they are unusual men. The Spanish Minister, who bore the
peculiar name of Marquis of Villalobar y O'Neill, had the appearance of
an Irishman, as he was on the maternal side, and was a trained diplomat,
with delightful manners and extraordinary strength of character. Another
important aid in the Belgian relief work was the Mexican Charge
d'Affaires Senor don German Bulle. Hugh Gibson, secretary of the
American Legation, wittily described this gentleman as the
"representative of a country without a government to a government
without a country." The businessman in the American Legation was this
secretary. Mr. Gibson had the appearance of a typical Yankee, though he
came from Indiana. He was about thirty years old, with dark eyes, crisp
hair, and a keen face. He was noted for his wit as well as his courage.
Many interesting stories are told of him. He had been often under fire,
and he was full of stories of his exploits told in a witty and modest
way.
The following incident shows something of his humor. Like most of the
Americans in Belgium he was followed by spies. With one of these Gibson
became on the most familiar terms, much to the spy's disgust. One very
rainy day, when Gibson was at the Legation, he discovered his pet spy
standing under the dripping eaves of a neighboring house. Gibson picked
up a raincoat and hurried over to the man.
"Look here, old fellow," said he, "I'm going to be in the Legation for
three hours. You put on this coat and go home. Come back in three hours
and I'll let you watch me for the rest of the day."
Mr. Brand Whitlock, the American Minister, was a remarkable man. Before
coming to Belgium he had become a distinguished man of letters.
Beginning as a newspaper reporter in Chicago, he had studied law and
been admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1894, and to the Bar of the State
of Ohio in 1897. He had entered into politics, and been elected mayor of
Toledo, Ohio, in 1905, again in 1907, 1909 and 1911. Meanwhile he had
been writing novels, "The Thirteenth District," "The Turn of the
Balance," "The Fall Guy," and "Forty Years of It." He had accepted the
appointment of American Minister to Belgium with the idea that he would
find leisure for other literary work, but the outbreak of the war
affected him deeply. A man of a sympathetic character who had lived all
his life in an amiable atmosphere, had been a member of prison reform
associations and charitable societies, he now found himself surrounded
by a storm of horrors. Day by day he had to see the distress and
suffering of thousands of people. He threw himself at once into the work
of relief. His health was not strong and he always looked tired and
worn. He was the scholarly type of man, the kind who would be happy in a
library, or in the atmosphere of a college, but he rose to the
emergency.
The American Legation became the one staple point around which the
starving and suffering population could rally. Belgians will never
forget what he did in those days. On Washington's Birthday they filed
before the door of the American Legation at Number 74 Rue de Treves,
men, women and children of all classes; some in furs, some in the
garments of the poor; noblemen, scholars, workmen, artists, shopkeepers
and peasants to leave their visiting cards, some engraved, some printed
and some written on pieces of paper, in tribute to Mr. Whitlock and the
nation which he represented.
But the man whose name stands cut above all others as one of the biggest
figures in connection with the work of relief was Mr. Herbert C. Hoover.
Mr. Hoover came of Quaker stock. He was born at West Branch, Iowa, in
1874, graduated from Leland Stanford University in 1895, specialized in
mining engineering, and spent several years in mining in the United
States and in Australia. He married Miss Lou Henry, of Monterey,
California, in 1899, and with his bride went to China as chief engineer
of the Chinese Imperial Bureau of Mines. He aided in the defense of
Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion. After that he continued engineering
work in China until 1902, when he became a partner of the firm of
Bewick, Moreing & Co., mine operators, of London, and was consulting
engineer for more than fifty mining companies. He looked extremely
youthful; smooth shaven, with a straight nose, and a strong mouth and
chin. To him, more than anyone else, was due the creation and the
success of the Commission for Relief in Belgium. The splendid
organization which saved from so much suffering more than seven million
non-combatants in Belgium and two million in Northern France, was his
achievement.
A good story is told in the Outlook of September 8, 1915, which
illustrates his methods. It seems that before the commission was fairly
on its feet, there came a day when it was a case of snarling things in
red tape and letting Belgium starve, or getting food shipped and letting
governments howl. Hoover naturally chose the latter.
When the last bag had been stowed and the hatches were battened down
(writes Mr. Lewis R. Freeman, who tells the story), Hoover went in
person to the one Cabinet Minister able to arrange for the only things
he could not provide for himself--clearance papers.
"If I do not get four cargoes of food to Belgium by the end of the
week," he said bluntly, "thousands are going to die from starvation, and
many more may be shot in food riots."
"Out of the question," said the distinguished Minister; "there is no
time, in the first place, and if there was, there are no good wagons to
be spared by the railways, no dock hands, and no steamers. Moreover, the
Channel is closed for a week to merchant vessels, while troops are being
transferred to the Continent."
"I have managed to get all these things," Hoover replied quietly, "and
am now through with them all, except the steamers. This wire tells me
that these are now loaded and ready to sail, and I have come to have you
arrange for their clearance."
The great man gasped. "There have been--there are even now--men in the
Tower for less than you have done!" he ejaculated. "If it was for
anything but Belgium Relief--if it was anybody but you, young man--I
should hate to think of what might happen. As it is--er--I suppose
there is nothing to do but congratulate you on a jolly clever coup. I'll
see about the clearance at once."
Mr. Lloyd George tells the following story: It seems that the Commission
on Belgian Relief was attempting to simplify its work by arranging for
an extension of exchange facilities on Brussels. Mr. Lloyd George, then
Chancellor of the Exchequer, sent for Hoover. What happened is told in
Mr. George's words:
"'Mr. Hoover,' I said, 'I find I am quite unable to grant your request
in the matter of Belgian exchange, and I have asked you to come here
that I might explain why.'
"Without waiting for me to go on, my boyish-looking caller began
speaking. For fifteen minutes he spoke without a break--just about the
clearest expository utterance I have ever heard on any subject. He used
not a word too much, nor yet a word too few. By the time he had finished
I had come to realize, not only the importance of his contentions, but,
what was more to the point, the practicability of granting his request.
So I did the only thing possible under the circumstance, told him I had
never understood the question before, thanked him for helping me to
understand, and saw to it that things were arranged as he wanted them."
On April 10, 1915, a submarine torpedoed one of the food ships chartered
by the commission. A week later a German hydro-airplane tried to drop
bombs on the deck of another commission ship. So Hoover paid a flying
visit to Berlin. He was at once assured that no more incidents of the
sort would occur.
"Thanks," said Hoover. "Your Excellency, have you heard the story of the
man who was nipped by a bad-tempered dog? He went to the owner to have
the dog muzzled. 'But the dog won't bite you,' insisted the owner. 'You
know he won't bite me, and I know he won't bite me,' said the injured
party doubtfully, 'but the question is, does the dog know?'"
"Herr Hoover," said the high official, "pardon me if I leave you for a
moment. I am going at once to 'let the dog know.'"
This story, which is told by Mr. Edward Eyre Hunt in his delightful book
about Belgium, "War Bread," may be apocryphal, but it illustrates well
Hoover's habit of getting exactly what he wants.
When Mr. Hoover accepted the chairmanship of the Commission for Relief
in Belgium he established his headquarters at 3 London Wall Buildings,
London, England, and marshaled a small legion of fellow Americans,
business men, sanitary experts, doctors and social workers, who, as
unpaid volunteers, set about the great task of feeding the people of
Belgium and Northern France. The commission soon became a great
institution, recognized by all governments, receiving contributions from
all parts of the earth, with its own ships in every big port, and in the
eyes of the Belgians and French, who received their daily bread through
its agency, a monument of what Americans could do in social organization
and business efficiency, for Americans furnished the entire personnel of
the commission from the beginning.
The commission was a distinct organization from the Belgian National
Committee, through and with which it worked in Belgium itself. Its
functions were those of direction, and supervision of all matters that
had to be dealt with outside Belgium. In the occupied territories it had
the help of thousands of Belgian and French workers, many of them women.
The commission did not depend, according to Mr. Hoover, on anyone of its
American members for leadership. Anyone of them could at any time take
charge and carry on the work. "Honold, Poland, Gregory, Brown, Kellogg,
Lucey, White, Hunsiker, Connet, and many others who, at various periods,
have given of their great ability and experience in administration could
do it." At the same time it was admitted that the commission would never
have been so successful if Belgium had not already had in existence a
well-developed communal system. The base of the commission's
organization was a committee in every commune or municipality.
"You can have no idea what a great blessing it was in Belgium and
Northern France to have the small and intimate divisions which exist
under the communal system," said Mr. Hoover. "It is the whole unit of
life, and a political entity much more developed than in America. It has
been not only the basis of our relief organization, but the salvation of
the people."
Altogether there were four thousand communal committees linked up in
larger groups under district and provincial committees, which in turn
came under the Belgian National Committee. Contributions were received
from all over the world, but the greater part from the British and
French governments.
When Mr. Hoover began his work he appealed to the people of the United
States, but the American response to the appeal was sadly disappointing.
During his stay in America, in the early part of 1917, Mr. Hoover
expressed himself on the subject of his own country's niggardliness,
pointing out at the same time that the chief profits made out of
providing food for Belgium had gone into American pockets. Out of the
two hundred and fifty millions of dollars spent by the commission at
that time, one hundred and fifty millions had been used in the United
States to purchase supplies and on these orders America had made a war
profit of at least thirty million dollars. Yet in those two years the
American people had contributed only nine million dollars!
Mr. Hoover declared: "Thousands of contributions have come to us from
devoted people all over the United States, but the truth is that, with
the exception of a few large gifts, American contributions have been
little rills of charity of the poor toward the poor. Everywhere abroad
America has been getting the credit for keeping alight the lamp of
humanity, but what are the facts? America's contributions have been
pitifully inadequate and, do not forget it, other peoples have begun to
take stock of us. We have been getting all the credit. Have we deserved
it? We lay claim to idealism, to devotion to duty and to great
benevolence, but now the acid test is being applied to us. This has a
wider import than mere figures. Time and time again, when the door to
Belgium threatened to close, we have defended its portals by the
assertion that this was an American enterprise; that the sensibilities
of the American people would be wounded beyond measure, would be
outraged, if this work were interfered with. Our moral strength has been
based upon this assertion. I believe it is true, but it is difficult in
the face of the figures to carry conviction. And in the last six or
eight months time and again we have felt our influence slip from under
us."
The statement that Germans had taken food intended for the Belgians was
disposed of by Mr. Hoover in a speech in New York City. "We are
satisfied," he said, "that the German army has never eaten one-tenth of
one per cent of the food provided. The Allied governments never would
have supplied us with two hundred million dollars if we were supplying
the German army. If the Germans had absorbed any considerable quantity
of this food the population of Belgium would not be alive today."
The plan of operation of the Belgian Commission needs some description.
Besides the headquarters in London there was an office in Brussels, and,
as Rotterdam was the port of entry for all Belgian supplies, a
transshipping office for commission goods was opened in that city. The
office building was at 98 Haringvliet, formerly the residence of a Dutch
merchant prince.
Captain J. F. Lucey, the first Rotterdam director, sat in a roomy office
on the second floor overlooking the Meuse. From his windows he could see
the commission barges as they left for Belgium, their huge canvas flags
bearing the inscription "Belgian Relief Committee." He was a nervous,
big, beardless American, a volunteer who had left his business to
organize and direct a great transshipping office in an alien land for an
alien people.
Out of nothing he created a large staff of clerks, wrung from the Dutch
Government special permits, loaded the immense cargoes received from
England into canal boats, obtained passports for cargoes and crews, and
shipped the foodstuffs consigned personally to Mr. Brand Whitlock.
Something of what was done at this point may be understood from a
reference in the first annual report of the commission published October
31, 1915:
The chartering and management of an entire fleet of vessels, together
with agency control practically throughout the world, has been carried
out for the commission quite free of the usual charges by large
transportation firms who offered these concessions in the cause of
humanity. Banks generally have given their exchange services and have
paid the full rate of interest on deposits. Insurance has been
facilitated by the British Government Insurance Commissioners, and the
firms who fixed the insurance have subscribed the equivalent of their
fees. Harbor dues and port charges have been remitted at many points and
stevedoring firms have made important concessions in rates and have
afforded other generous services. In Holland, exemption from harbor dues
and telegraph tolls has been granted and rail transport into Belgium
provided free of charge. The total value of these Dutch concessions is
estimated at 147,824 guilders. The German military authorities in
Belgium have abolished custom and canal dues on all commission imports,
have reduced railway rates one-half and on canals and railways they give
right of way to commission foodstuffs wherever there is need.
By mid-November gift ships from the United States were on their way to
Rotterdam, but the Canadian province of Nova Scotia was first in the
transatlantic race.
One of the most thrilling experiences of the first year's work was the
coming of the Christmas ship, a steamer full of Christmas gifts
presented by the children of America to the children of war-ridden
Belgium. The children knew all about it long before the ship arrived in
Rotterdam. St. Nicholas' day had brought them few presents. They were
hungry for friendliness, and the thought of getting gifts from children
across the sea filled them with joy.
Many difficulties arose, which delayed the distribution of these gifts.
The Germans insisted that every package should be opened and every scrap
of writing taken out before the gifts were sent into Belgium. This was a
tremendous task, for notes written by American children were tucked away
into all sorts of impossible places.
Three motor boats made an attempt to carry these gifts into Belgium by
Christmas day. They carried boxes of clothing, outfits for babies,
blankets, caps, bonnets, cloaks, shoes of every description, babies'
boots, candy, fish, striped candy canes, chocolates and mountains of
nuts, nuts such as the Belgians had never seen in their lives before:
pecans, hickory nuts, American walnuts, and peanuts galore. There were
scores of dolls, French bisques, smiling pleasantly, pop-eyed rag dolls,
old darky mammy dolls, and Santa Clauses, teddy bears, picture books,
fairy books and story books.
One child had written on the cover of her book: "Father says I ought to
send you my best picture book, but I think that this one will do."
These gifts made the American aid to Belgium a thousand times more
intimate and real, and never after that was American help thought of in
other terms than those of burning gratitude. Among these gifts were
hundreds of American flags, which soon became familiar to all Belgium.
The commission automobiles bore the flag, and the children would
recognize the Stars and Stripes and wave and cheer as it went by.
Thousands upon thousands of gifts to the Belgian people followed the
Christmas ship. All, or a great part, of the cargoes of one hundred and
two ships consisted of gift goods from America and indeed from all parts
of the world, and the Belgians sent back a flood of acknowledgments and
thousands of beautiful souvenirs. Some of the most touching remembrances
came from the children. Every child in the town of Tamise, for example,
wrote a letter to America.
One addressed to the President of the United States reads as follows:
Highly Honored Mr. President: Although I am still very young I feel
already that feeling of thankfulness which we, as Belgians, owe to you,
Highly Honored Mr. President, because you have come to our help in these
dreary times. Without your help there would certainly have been
thousands of war victims, and so, Noble Sir, I pray that God will bless
you and all the noble American people. That is the wish of all the
Belgian folk.
On New Year's day Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, issued his
famous pastoral:
Belgium gave her word of honor to defend her independence. She has kept
her word. The other powers had agreed to protect and to respect
Belgium's neutrality. Germany has broken her word, England has been
faithful to it. These are the facts. I consider it an obligation of my
pastoral charge to define to you your conscientious duties toward the
power which has invaded our soil, and which for the moment occupies the
greater part of it. This power has no authority, and, therefore, in the
depth of your heart, you should render it neither esteem, nor
attachment, nor respect. The only legitimate power in Belgium is that
which belongs to our King, to his government, to the representatives of
the nation; that alone is authority for us; that alone has a right to
our heart's affection and to our submission.
Cardinal Mercier was called the bravest man in Belgium. Six feet five in
height, a thin, scholarly face, with grayish white hair, and a forehead
so white that one feels one looks on the naked bone, he presented the
appearance of some medieval ascetic. But there was a humorous look about
his mouth, and an expression of sympathy and comprehension which gave
the effect of a keenly intelligent, as well as gentle, leader of the
nation.
At the beginning of the war the Roman Catholic party was divided. Some
of its leaders were opposed to resistance to the invaders. Many priests
fled before the German armies. But the pastoral letter of Cardinal
Mercier restored to the Church its old leadership. In him conquered
Belgium had found a voice.
On New Year's Sunday, 1915, every priest at the Mass read out the
Cardinal's ringing challenge. There were German soldiers in the
churches, but no word of the letter had been allowed to reach the ears
of the authorities, and the Germans were taken completely by surprise.
Immediately orders came from headquarters prohibiting further
circulation of the letter, and ordering that every copy should be
surrendered to the authorities. Soldiers at the bayonet's point extorted
the letter from the priests, and those who had read it were put under
arrest. Yet, somehow, copies of the letter were circulated throughout
Belgium, and every Belgian took new heart.
As far as the Cardinal was concerned German action was a very delicate
matter. They could not arrest and imprison so great a dignitary of the
Church for fear of the effect, not only upon the Catholics of the outer
world, but on the Catholics in their own empire. An officer was sent to
the Cardinal to demand that the letter be recalled. The Cardinal
refused. He was then notified that it was desired that he remain in his
palace for the present. His confinement lasted only for a day.
The Americans who were in Belgium as representatives of the Relief
Commission had two duties. First, to see that the Germans did not seize
any of the food supplies, and second, to see that every Belgian who was
in need should receive his daily bread. The ration assigned to each
Belgian was 250 grams of bread per day. This seems rather small, but the
figure was established by Horace Fletcher, the American food expert, who
was one of the members of the commission.
Mr. Fletcher also prepared a pamphlet on food values, which gave recipes
for American dishes which were up to that time unknown to the Belgians.
He soon got not only the American but the Belgian committeemen talking
of calories with great familiarity.
Some of the foods sent from America were at first almost useless to the
Belgians. They did not know how to cook cornmeal and oatmeal, and some
of the famished peasants used them as feed for chickens. Teachers had to
be sent out through the villages to give instructions.
A great deal of difficulty developed in connection with the bread. The
supply of white flour was limited; wheat had to be imported, and milled
in Belgium. It was milled so as to contain all the bran except ten per
cent, but in some places ten or fifteen per cent of cornmeal was added
to the flour, not only to enable the commission to provide the necessary
ration, but also to keep down the price. As a result the price of bread
was always lower in Belgium than in London, Paris or New York.
Much less trouble occurred in connection with the distribution of bread
and soup from the soup kitchens. In Antwerp thirty-five thousand men
were fed daily at these places. At first it often occurred that soup
could be had, but no bread. The ration of soup and bread given in the
kitchens cost about ten cents a day. There were four varieties of soup,
pea, bean, vegetable and bouillon, and it was of excellent quality.
Every person carried a card with blank spaces for the date of the
deliveries of soup. There were several milk kitchens maintained for the
children, and several restaurants where persons with money might obtain
their food.
It was necessary not only to fight starvation in Belgium but also
disease. There were epidemics of typhoid and black measles. The
Rockefeller Foundation established a station in Rotterdam called the
Rockefeller Foundation War Relief Commission, and some of the women
among its workers acted as volunteer health officers. People were
inoculated against typhoid, and the sources of infection traced and
destroyed. Another form of relief work was providing labor for the
unemployed. A plan of relief was drawn up and it was arranged that a
large portion of them should be employed by the communal organizations,
in public works, such as draining, ditching, constructing embankments
and building sewers. The National Committee paid nine-tenths of the
wages, the commune paying the other tenth. The first enrolment of
unemployed amounted to more than 760,000 names, and nearly as many
persons were dependent upon these workers.
Providing employment for these led to certain complications. The Germans
had been able up to this time to secure a certain amount of labor from
the Belgians. Now the Belgian could refuse to work for the German, and a
great deal of tact was necessary to prevent trouble. As time went on the
relief work of the Commission was extended into the north of France,
where a population of more than 2,000,000 was within the German zone.
The work was handled in the same way, with the same guarantees from
Germany.
In conclusion a word may be said of the effect of all this suffering
upon the Belgian people, and let a Belgian speak, who knew his country
well and had traveled it over, going on foot, as he says, or by tram,
from town to town, from village to village:
"I have seen and spoken with hundreds of men of all classes and all
parts of the country, and all these people, taken singly or united in
groups, display a very definite frame of mind. To describe this new
psychology we must record the incontestably closer union which has been
formed between the political sections of the country. There are no
longer any political parties, there are Belgians in Belgium, and that is
all; Belgians better acquainted with their country, feeling for it an
impulse of passionate tenderness such as a child might feel who saw his
mother suffering for the first time, and on his account. Walloons and
Flemings, Catholics and Liberals or Socialists, all are more and more
frankly united in all that concerns the national life and decisions for
the future.
"By uniting the whole nation and its army, by shedding the blood of all
our Belgians in every corner of the country, by forcing all hearts, all
families, to follow with anguish the movement of those soldiers who
fought from Liege to Namur, from Wavre to Antwerp or the Oise, the war
has suddenly imposed wider horizons upon all, has inspired all minds
with noble and ardent passions, has compelled the good will of all to
combine and act in concert in order to defend the common interests.
"Of these profoundly tried minds, of these wonderful energies now
employed for the first time, of these atrocious sufferings which have
brought all hearts into closer contact, a new Belgium is born, a
greater, more generous, more ideal Belgium."
CHAPTER XIII
BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES
The month of October, 1914, contained no important naval contests. On
the 15th, the old British cruiser Hawke was torpedoed in the North Sea
and nearly five hundred men were lost. On the other hand, on the 17th of
October, the light cruiser Undaunted, accompanied by the destroyers,
Lance, Legion and Loyal, sank four German destroyers off the Dutch
coast. But the opening of November turned the interest of the navy to
the Southern Pacific. When the war began Admiral von Spee, with the
German Pacific squadron, was at Kiaochau in command of seven vessels.
Among these was the Emden, whose adventurous career has been already
described. Another, the Karlsruhe, became a privateer in the South
Atlantic.
Early in August von Spee set sail from Kiaochau with two armored
cruisers, the Gneisenau and the Scharnhorst and three light cruisers,
the Dresden, Leipzig and Nurmberg. These ships were comparatively new,
well armed, and of considerable speed. They set off for the great trade
highways to destroy, as far as possible, British commerce. Their route
led them to the western coast of South America, and arrangements were
made so that they were coaled and provisioned from bases in some of the
South American states which permitted a slack observance of the laws
respecting the duties of neutrals.
A small British squadron had been detailed to protect British commerce
in this part of the world. It was commanded by Rear Admiral Sir
Christopher Cradock, a distinguished and popular sailor, who had under
his command one twelve-year-old battleship, the Canopus, two armored
cruisers, the Good Hope and the Monmouth, the light cruiser Glasgow, and
an armed liner, the Otranto. None of these vessels had either great
speed or heavy armament. The equipment of the Canopus, indeed, was
obsolete. Admiral Cradock's squadron arrived at Halifax on August 14th,
thence sailed to Bermuda, then on past Venezuela and Brazil around the
Horn. It visited the Falkland Islands, and by the third week of October
was on the coast of Chile. The Canopus had dropped behind for repairs,
and though reinforcements were expected, they had not yet arrived.
One officer wrote, on the 12th of October, "From now till the end of the
month is the critical time, as it will decide whether we shall have to
fight a superior German force from the Pacific before we can get
reinforcements from home or the Mediterranean. We feel that the
admiralty ought to have a better force here, but we shall fight
cheerfully whatever odds we have to face."
Admiral Cradock knew well that his enemy was superior in force. From
Coronel, where he sent off some cables, he went north on the first of
November, and about four o'clock in the afternoon the Glasgow sighted
the enemy. The two big German armored cruisers were leading the way, and
two light cruisers were following close. The German cruiser Leipzig does
not seem to have been in company. The British squadron was led by the
Good Hope, with the Monmouth, Glasgow and Otranto following in order. It
was a beautiful spectacle. The sun was setting in the wonderful glory
which one sees in the Pacific, and the British ships, west of the
German, must have appeared to them in brilliant colors. On the east were
the snowy peaks of the Andes. Half a gale was blowing and the two
squadrons moved south at great speed. About seven o'clock they were
about seven miles apart and the Scharnhorst, which was leading the
German fleet, opened fire. At this time the Germans were shaded by the
inshore twilight, but the British ships must have showed up plainly in
the afterglow. The enemy fired with great accuracy. Shell after shell
hit the Good Hope and the Monmouth, but the bad light and inferior guns
saved the German ships from much damage. The Good Hope was set on fire
and at 7.50 exploded and sank. The Monmouth was also on fire, and turned
away to the western sea. The Glasgow had escaped so far, but the whole
German squadron bore down upon her. She turned and fled and by nine
o'clock was out of sight of the enemy. The Otranto, only an armed liner,
had disappeared early in the fight. On the following day the Glasgow
worked around to the south, and joined the Canopus, and the two
proceeded to the Straits of the Magellan. The account of this battle by
the German Admiral von Spee is of especial interest:
"Wind and swell were head on, and the vessels had heavy going,
especially the small cruisers on both sides. Observation and distance
estimation were under a severe handicap because of the seas which washed
over the bridges. The swell was so great that it obscured the aim of the
gunners at the six-inch guns on the middle deck, who could not see the
sterns of the enemy ships at all, and the bows but seldom. At 6.20 P.
M., at a distance of 13,400 yards, I turned one point toward the enemy,
and at 6.34 opened fire at a distance of 11,260 yards. The guns of both
our armored cruisers were effective, and at 6.39 already we could note
the first hit on the Good Hope. I at once resumed a parallel course,
instead of bearing slightly toward the enemy. The English opened their
fire at this time. I assume that the heavy sea made more trouble for
them than it did for us. Their two armored cruisers remained covered by
our fire, while they, so far as could be determined, hit the Scharnhorst
but twice, and the Gneisenau only four times. At 6.53, when 6,500 yards
apart, I ordered a course one point away from the enemy. They were
firing more slowly at this time, while we were able to count numerous
hits. We could see, among other things, that the top of the Monmouth's
forward turret had been shot away, and that a violent fire was burning
in the turret. The Scharnhorst, it is thought, hit the Good Hope about
thirty-five times. In spite of our altered course the English changed
theirs sufficiently so that the distance between us shrunk to 5,300
yards. There was reason to suspect that the enemy despaired of using his
artillery effectively, and was maneuvering for a torpedo attack.
"The position of the moon, which had risen at six o'clock, was favorable
to this move. Accordingly I gradually opened up further distances
between the squadrons by another deflection of the leading ship, at
7.45. In the meantime it had grown dark. The range finders on the
Scharnhorst used the fire on the Monmouth as a guide for a time, though
eventually all range finding, aiming and observations became so inexact
that fire was stopped at 7.26. At 7.23 a column of fire from an
explosion was noticed between the stacks of the Good Hope. The Monmouth
apparently stopped firing at 7.20. The small cruisers, including the
Nuremburg, received by wireless at 7.30 the order to follow the enemy
and to attack his ships with torpedoes. Vision was somewhat obscured at
this time by a rain squall. The light cruisers were not able to find the
Good Hope, but the Nuremburg encountered the Monmouth and at 8.58 was
able, by shots at closest range, to capsize her, without a single shot
being fired in return. Rescue work in the heavy sea was not to be
thought of, especially as the Nuremburg immediately afterward believed
she had sighted the smoke of another ship and had to prepare for another
attack. The small cruisers had neither losses nor damage in the battle.
On the Gneisenau there were two men slightly wounded. The crews of the
ships went into the fight with enthusiasm, everyone did his duty, and
played his part in the victory."
Little criticism can be made of the tactics used by Vice-Admiral Spee.
He appears to have maneuvered so as to secure the advantage of light,
wind and sea. He also seems to have suited himself as regards the range.
Admiral Cradock was much criticised for joining battle with his little
fleet against such odds, but he followed the glorious traditions of the
English navy. He, and 1,650 officers and men, were lost, and the news
was hailed as a great German victory. But the British admiralty were
thoroughly roused. Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, chief of
the war staff, proceeded at once with a squadron to the South Atlantic.
With him were two battle cruisers, the Invincible and the Inflexible,
three armored cruisers, the Carnovan, the Kent and the Cornwall. His
fleet was joined by the light cruiser Bristol and the armed liner
Macedonia. The Glasgow, fresh from her rough experience, was found in
the South Atlantic. Admiral Sturdee then laid his plans to come in touch
with the victorious German squadron. A wireless message was sent to the
Canopus, bidding her proceed to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.
This message was intercepted by the Germans, as was intended.
[Illustration: Photograph]
Copyright International News Service
THE SINKING OF THE GERMAN CRUISER "BLUECHER"
This dramatic photograph from the great North Sea Battle in 1915 shows
the stricken ship just as she turned turtle and was about to sink.
Officers and men can be seen swarming like ants on the upper side of
the hull. Others, who either fell or preferred to take their chance in
the sea, are shown swimming away from the wreck.
[Illustration: Painting]
GERMANY BRINGS THE WAR TO EAST COAST TOWNS OF ENGLAND
By raids with light cruisers on the coast towns, and Zeppelins and
airplanes further inland, Germany sought to frighten the British
populace. At Hartlepool, where this scene was enacted, several
civilians, some of them women and children, were killed by bursting
shells of the raiders.
Admiral von Spee, fearing the Japanese fleet, was already headed for
Cape Horn. He thought that the Canopus could be easily captured at Port
Stanley, and he started at once to that port. Admiral Sturdee's
expedition had been kept profoundly secret. On December 7th the British
squadron arrived at Port Stanley, and spent the day coaling. The
Canopus, the Glasgow and the Bristol were in the inner harbor, while the
remaining vessels lay outside. On December 8th, Admiral von Spee arrived
from the direction of Cape Horn. The battle that followed is thoroughly
described in the report of Vice-Admiral Sturdee from which the
following extracts have been made:
"At 8 A. M., Tuesday, December 8th, a signal was received from the
signal station on shore. 'A four-funnel and two-funnel man-of-war in
sight from Sapper Hill steering north.' The Kent was at once ordered to
weigh anchor, and a general signal was made to raise steam for full
speed. At 8.20 the signal service station reported another column of
smoke in sight, and at 8.47 the Canopus reported that the first two
ships were eight miles off, and that the smoke reported at 8.20 appeared
to be the smoke of two ships about twenty miles off. At 9.20 A. M. the
two leading ships of the enemy, the Gneisenau and Nuremburg, with guns
trained on the wireless station, came within range of the Canopus, which
opened fire at them across the lowland at a range of 11,000 yards. The
enemy at once hoisted their colors, and turned away. A few minutes later
the two cruisers altered course to port, as though to close the Kent at
the entrance to the harbor. But at about this time it seems that the
Invincible and Inflexible were seen over the land, and the enemy at once
altered course, and increased speed to join their consorts. At 9.45 A.
M. the squadron weighed anchor and proceeded out of the harbor, the
Carnovan leading. On passing Cape Pembroke light, the five ships of the
enemy appeared clearly in sight to the southeast, hull down. The
visibility was at its maximum, the sea was calm, with a bright sun, a
clear sky, and a light breeze from the northwest. At 10.20 the signal
for a general chase was made. At this time the enemy's funnels and
bridges showed just above the horizon. Information was received from the
Bristol at 11.27 that three enemy ships had appeared off Port Pleasant,
probably colliers or transports. The Bristol was therefore directed to
take the Macedonia under orders and destroy transports.
"The enemy were still maintaining their distance, and I decided at 12.20
P. M. to attack, with the two battle cruisers and the Glasgow. At 12.47
P. M. the signal to 'Open fire and engage the enemy' was made. The
Inflexible opened fire at 12.55 P. M. at the right-hand ship of the
enemy, and a few minutes later the Invincible opened fire at the same
ship. The deliberate fire became too threatening, and when a shell fell
close alongside her at 1.20 p. m. she, the Leipsig, turned away, with
the Nuremburg and Dresden, to the southwest. These light cruisers were
at once followed by the Kent, Glasgow and Cornwall.
"The action finally developed into three separate encounters. First, the
action with the armored cruisers. The fire of the battle cruisers was
directed on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The effect of this was
quickly seen, when, with the Scharnhorst leading, they turned about
seven points to port, and opened fire. Shortly afterwards the battle
cruisers were ordered to turn together with the Invincible leading. The
enemy then turned about ten points to starboard, and a second chase
ensued until, at 2.45, the battle cruisers again opened fire. This
caused the enemy to turn into line ahead to port and open fire. The
Scharnhorst caught fire forward, but not seriously, and her fire
slackened perceptibly. The Gneisenau was badly hit by the Inflexible.
"At 3.30 P. M. the Scharnhorst turned about ten points to starboard, her
fire had slackened perceptibly, and one shell had shot away her third
funnel. Some guns were not firing, and it would appear that the turn was
dictated by a desire to bring her starboard guns into action. The effect
of the fire on the Scharnhorst became more and more apparent in
consequence of smoke from fires and also escaping steam. At times a
shell would cause a large hole to appear in her side, through which
could be seen a dull, red glow of flame.
"At 4.04 P. M. the Scharnhorst, whose flag remained flying to the last,
suddenly listed heavily to port, and within a minute it became clear
that she was a doomed ship, for the list increased very rapidly until
she lay on her beam ends. At 4.17 P. M. she disappeared. The Gneisenau
passed on the far side of her late flagship, and continued a determined,
but ineffectual, effort to fight the two battle cruisers. At 5.08 P. M.
the forward funnel was knocked over, and remained resting against the
second funnel. She was evidently in serious straits, and her fire
slackened very much.
"At 5.15 P. M. one of the Gneisenau's shells struck the Invincible. This
was her last effective effort. At 5.30 P. M. she turned toward the
flagship with a heavy list to starboard, and appeared to stop, the steam
pouring from her escape pipes, and smoke from shell and fires rising
everywhere. About this time I ordered the signal 'Cease fire,' but
before it was hoisted, the Gneisenau opened fire again, and continued to
fire from time to time with a single gun. At 5.40 P. M. the three ships
closed in on the Gneisenau, and at this time the flag flying at her fore
truck, was apparently hauled down, but the flag at the peak continued
flying. At 5.50 'Cease fire' was made. At 6 P. M. the Gneisenau keeled
over very suddenly, showing the men gathered on her decks, and then
walking on her side as she lay for a minute on her beam ends before
sinking.
"The prisoners of war from the Gneisenau report that by the time the
ammunition was expended some six hundred men had been killed and
wounded. When the ship capsized and sank there were probably some two
hundred unwounded survivors in the water, but, owing to the shock of the
cold water, many were drowned within sight of the boats and ships. Every
effort was made to save life as quickly as possible, both by boats and
from the ships. Life buoys were thrown and ropes lowered, but only a
portion could be rescued. The Invincible alone rescued a hundred and
eight men, fourteen of whom were found to be dead after being brought on
board. These men were buried at sea the following day, with full
military honors.
"Second, action with the light cruisers. About one P. M. when the
Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau turned to port to engage the Invincible
and the Inflexible, the enemy's light cruisers turned to starboard to
escape. The Dresden was leading, and the Nuremburg and Leipzig followed
on each quarter. In accordance with my instructions, the Glasgow, Kent
and Cornwall at once went in chase of these ships. The Glasgow drew well
ahead of the Cornwall and Kent, and at 3 P. M. shots were exchanged with
the Leipzig at 12,000 yards. The Glasgow's object was to endeavor to
outrange the Leipzig, and thus cause her to alter course and give the
Cornwall and Kent a chance of coming into action. At 4.17 P. M. the
Cornwall opened fire also on the Leipzig; at 7.17 P. M. the Leipzig was
on fire fore and aft, and the Cornwall and Glasgow ceased fire. The
Leipzig turned over on her port side and disappeared at 9 P. M. Seven
officers and eleven men were saved. At 3.36 P. M. the Cornwall ordered
the Kent to engage the Nuremburg, the nearest cruiser to her. At 6.35 P.
M. the Nuremburg was on fire forward, and ceased firing. The Kent also
ceased firing, then, as the colors were still observed to be flying on
the Nuremburg, the Kent opened fire again. Fire was finally stopped five
minutes later, on the colors being hauled down, and every preparation
was made to save life. The Nuremburg sank at 7.27, and as she sank a
group of men were waving the German ensign attached to a staff.
"Twelve men were rescued, but only seven survived. The Kent had four
killed and twelve wounded, mostly caused by one shell. During the time
the three cruisers were engaged with the Nuremburg and Leipzig, the
Dresden, which was beyond her consorts, effected her escape, owing to
her superior speed. The Glasgow was the only cruiser with sufficient
speed to have had any chance of success, however she was fully employed
in engaging the Leipzig for over an hour before either the Cornwall or
Kent could come up and get within range. During this time the Dresden
was able to increase her distance and get out of sight. Three, Action
with the enemy's transports. H.M.S. Macedonia reports that only two
ships, the steamships Baden and Santa Isabel, were present. Both ships
were sunk after removal of the crews."
Thus was annihilated the last squadron belonging to Germany outside the
North Sea. The defeat of Cradock had been avenged. The British losses
were very small, considering the length of the fight and the desperate
efforts of the German fleet. Only one ship of the German squadron was
able to escape, and this on account of her great speed. The German
sailors went down with colors flying. They died as Cradock's men had
died.
The naval war now entered upon a new phase. The shores of Great Britain
had for many years been so thoroughly protected by the British navy that
few coast fortifications had been built, except at important naval
stations. Invasion on a grand scale was plainly impossible, so long as
the British fleets held control of the sea. With German guns across the
Channel almost within hearing it was evident that a raiding party might
easily reach the English shore on some foggy night. The English people
were much disturbed. They had read the accounts of the horrible
brutalities of the German troops in Belgium and eastern France, and they
imagined their feelings if a band of such ferocious brutes were to land
in England and pillage their peaceful homes. There was a humorous side
to the way in which the yeomanry and territorials entrenched themselves
along the eastern coast line, but the Germans, angry at the failure of
their fleets, determined to disturb the British peace by raids, slight
as the military advantage of such raids might be.
On November 2d a fleet of German warships sailed from the Elbe. They
were three battle cruisers, the Seydlitz, the Moltke, and the Von Der
Tann; two armored cruisers, the Blucher and the York, and three light
cruisers, the Kolberg, the Graudenz, and the Strasburg. They were mainly
fast vessels and the battle cruisers carried eleven-inch guns. Early in
the morning they ran through the nets of a British fishing fleet. Later
an old coast police boat, the Halcyon, was shot at a few times. About
eight o'clock they were opposite Yarmouth, and proceeded to bombard that
naval station from a distance of about ten miles. Their range was poor
and their shells did no damage. They then turned swiftly for home, but
on the road back the York struck a mine, and was sunk.
[Illustration: Map: Great Britain on the West, Denmark and Germany on
the East.]
ENGLISH COAST TOWNS THAT WERE RAIDED
On the 16th of December they came again, full of revenge because of the
destruction of von Spee and his squadron. Early in the morning early
risers in Scarborough saw in the north four strange ships. Scarborough
was absolutely without defense. It had once been an artillery depot but
in recent years had been a cavalry station, and some few troops of this
service were quartered there. Otherwise it was an open seaside resort.
The German ships poured shells into the defenseless town, aiming at
every large object they could see, the Grand Hotel, the gas works, the
water works and the wireless station. Churches, public buildings, and
hospitals were hit, as well as private houses. Over five hundred shells
were fired. Then the ships turned around and moved away. The streets
were crowded with puzzled and scared inhabitants, many of whom, as is
customary in watering places, were women, children and invalids.
At nine o'clock Whitby, a coast town near Scarborough, saw two great
ships steaming up from the south. Ten minutes later the ships were
firing. The old Abbey of Hilda and Cedman was struck, but on the whole
little damage was done. Another division of the invaders visited the
Hartlepools. There there was a small fort, with a battery of
old-fashioned guns, and off the shore was a small British flotilla, a
gunboat and two destroyers. The three battle cruisers among the German
raiders opened fire. The little British fleet did what they could but
were quickly driven off. The German ships then approached the shore and
fired on the English battery, the first fight with a foreign foe in
England since 1690. The British battery consisted of some territorials
who stood without wavering to their guns and kept up for half an hour a
furious cannonading. A great deal of damage was done; churches,
hospitals, workhouses and schools were all hit. The total death roll was
119, and the wounded over 300. Six hundred houses were damaged or
destroyed, but there was a great deal of heroism, not only among the
territorials, but among the inhabitants of the town, and when the last
shots were fired all turned to the work of relief.
Somewhere between nine and ten o'clock the bold German fleet started for
home. The British Grand Fleet had been notified of the raid and two
battle cruiser squadrons were hurrying to intercept them. But the
weather had thickened and the waters of the North Sea were covered with
fog belts stretching for hundreds of miles. And so the raiders returned
safe to receive their Iron Crosses. The German aim in such raids was
probably to create a panic, and so interfere with the English military
plans. If the English had not looked at the matter with common sense
they might easily have been tempted to spend millions of pounds on
seaboard fortifications, and keep millions of men at home who were more
necessary in the armies in France. But the English people kept their
heads.
Germany, perceiving the indignation of the world at these bombardments
of defenseless watering places, endeavored to appease criticism by
describing them as fortified towns. But the well-known excellence of the
German system of espionage makes it plain that they knew the true
condition of affairs. These towns were not selected as fortified towns,
but because they were not, and destruction in unfortified towns it was
thought would have a greater effect than in a fortified town where it
would be regarded as among the natural risks of war.
During the rest of the year of 1914 no further sea fight took place in
the North Sea nor was there any serious loss to the navy from torpedo or
submarine. But on the first of January, 1915, the British ship
Formidable, 15,000 tons, was struck by two torpedoes and sunk. The
previous day she had left Sheerness with eight vessels of the Channel
fleet and with no protection from destroyers. The night was a bright
moonlight and for such vessels to be moving in line on such a night
without destroyers shows gross carelessness. Out of a crew of 800 men
only 201 were saved, and the rescue of this part of the crew was due to
the seamanship of Captain Pillar of the trawler Providence, who managed
to take most of those rescued on board his vessel.
On January 24th the German battle cruiser squadron under Rear-Admiral
Hipper set sail from Wilhelmshaven. What his object was is not known. He
had enlarged the mine field north of Helgoland and north of the mine
field had stationed a submarine flotilla. It is likely that he was
planning to induce the British fleet to follow him into the mine field,
or within reach of his submarines. That same morning the British battle
cruiser squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty put to sea.
According to the official report of the English Admiral he was in
command of the following vessels; battle cruisers, the Lion, Princess
Royal, the Tiger, the New Zealand, and the Indomitable; light cruisers,
the Southampton, the Nottingham, the Birmingham, the Lowestoft, the
Arethusa, the Aurora and the Undaunted, with destroyer flotillas under
Commodore Tyrwhitt. The German Admiral had with him the Seydlitz, the
Moltke, the Derfflinger, the Blucher, six light cruisers and a destroyer
flotilla. The English Admiral apparently had some hint of the plans of
the German squadron. The night of the 23d had been foggy; in the
morning, however, the wind came from the northeast and cleared off the
mists. An abridgment of the official report gives a good account of the
battle, sometimes called the battle of Dogger Bank:
"At 7.25 A. M. the flash of guns was observed south-southeast; shortly
afterwards the report reached me from the Aurora that she was engaged
with enemy ships. I immediately altered course to south-southeast,
increased speed, and ordered the light cruisers and flotillas to get in
touch and report movements of enemy. This order was acted upon with
great promptitude, indeed my wishes had already been forestalled by the
respective senior officers, and reports almost immediately followed from
the Southampton, Arethusa, and Aurora as to the position and composition
of the enemy. The enemy had altered their course to southeast; from now
onward the light cruisers maintained touch with the enemy and kept me
fully informed as to their movements. The battle cruisers worked up to
full speed, steering to the southward; the wind at the time was
northeast, light, with extreme visibility.
"At 7.30 A. M. the enemy were sighted on the port bow, steaming fast,
steering approximately southeast, distance fourteen miles. Owing to the
prompt reports received we had attained our position on the quarter of
the enemy, and altered course to run parallel to them. We then settled
down to a long stern chase, gradually increasing our speed until we
reached 28.5 knots.
"Great credit is due to the engineer staffs of the New Zealand and
Indomitable. These ships greatly exceeded their speed. At 8.52 A. M., as
we had closed within 20,000 yards of the rear ship, the battle cruisers
maneuvered so that guns would bear and the Lion fired a single shot
which fell short. The enemy at this time were in single line ahead, with
light cruisers ahead and a large number of destroyers on their starboard
beam. Single shots were fired at intervals to test the range, and at
9.09 the Lion made her first hit on the Blucher, the rear ship of the
German line. At 9.20 the Tiger opened fire on the Blucher, and the Lion
shifted to the third in the line, this ship being hit by several salvos.
The enemy returned our fire at 9.14 A. M., the Princess Royal, on coming
into range, opened fire on the Blucher. The New Zealand was also within
range of the Blucher which had dropped somewhat astern, and opened fire
on her. The Princess Royal then shifted to the third ship in the line
(Derfflinger) inflicting considerable damage on her. Our flotilla
cruisers and destroyers had gradually dropped from a position, broad on
our beam, to our port quarter, so as not to foul our range with their
smoke. But the enemy's destroyers threatening attack, the Meteor and M
division passed ahead of us.
"About 9.45 the situation was about as follows: The Blucher, the fourth
in their line, showed signs of having suffered severely from gun fire,
their leading ship and number three were also on fire. The enemy's
destroyers emitted vast columns of smoke to screen their battle
cruisers, and under cover of this the latter now appeared to have
altered course to the northward to increase their distance. The battle
cruisers therefore were ordered to form a line of bearing
north-northwest, and proceeded at the utmost speed. Their destroyers
then showed evident signs of an attempt to attack. The Lion and the
Tiger opened fire upon them, and caused them to retire and resume their
original course.
"At 10.48 A. M. the Blucher, which had dropped considerably astern of
the enemy's line, hauled out to port, steering north with a heavy list,
on fire, and apparently in a defeated condition. I consequently ordered
the Indomitable to attack the enemy breaking northward. At 10.54
submarines were reported on the starboard bow, and I personally observed
the wash of a periscope. I immediately turned to port. At 10.03 an
injury to the Lion being reported as being incapable of immediate
repair, I directed the Lion to shape course northwest.
"At 11.20 I called the Attack alongside, shifting my flag to her, and
proceeded at utmost speed to rejoin the squadron. I met them at noon,
retiring north-northwest. I boarded and hoisted my flag on the Princess
Royal, when Captain Brock acquainted me with what had occurred since the
Lion fell out of line, namely, that the Blucher had been sunk and that
the enemy battle cruisers had continued their course to the eastward in
a considerably damaged condition. He also informed me that a Zeppelin
and a seaplane had endeavored to drop bombs on the vessels which went to
the rescue of the survivors of the Blucher."
It appears from this report that as soon as the Germans sighted the
British fleet they promptly turned around and fled to the southeast.
This flight, before they could have known the full British strength,
suggests that the German Admiral was hoping to lure the British vessels
into the Helgoland trap. The British gunnery was remarkably good, shot
after shot taking effect at a distance of ten miles, and that too when
moving at over thirty miles an hour. Over 120 of the crew of the Blucher
were rescued and more would have been rescued if it had not been for the
attack upon the rescue parties by the German aircraft. The injury to the
Lion was very unfortunate. Admiral Beatty handed over charge of the
battle cruisers to Rear-Admiral Moore, and when he was able to overtake
the squadron he found that under Admiral Moore's orders the British
fleet were retiring. The British squadron at the moment of turning was
seventy miles from Helgoland, and in no danger from its mine fields.
What might have been a crushing victory became therefore only a partial
one: the Germans lost the Blucher; the Derfflinger and the Seydlitz were
badly injured, but it seems that with a little more persistence the
whole German squadron might have been destroyed.
The result was a serious blow to Germany. This engagement was the first
between modern big-gun ships. Particular interest is also attached to it
because each squadron was accompanied by scouting and screening light
cruisers and destroyers. It was fear of submarines and mines, moreover,
that influenced the British to break off the engagement. A Zeppelin
airship and a seaplane also took part, and perhaps assisted in the fire
control of the Germans. The conditions surrounding this battle were
ideal for illustrating the functions of battle cruisers. The German
warship raid on the British coast of the previous month was still fresh
in mind, and when this situation off the Dogger Bank arose the timely
interposing of Admiral Beatty's superior force, the fast chase, the
long-range fighting, the loss of the Blucher and the hasty retreat of
the enemy, were all particularly pleasing to the British people. As a
result the battle cruiser type of ship attained great popularity.
CHAPTER XIV
NEW METHODS AND HORRORS OF WARFARE
When Germany embarked upon its policy of frightfulness, it held in
reserve murderous inventions that had been contributed to the German
General Staff by chemists and other scientists working in conjunction
with the war. Never since the dawn of time had there been such a
perversion of knowledge to criminal purposes; never had science
contributed such a deadly toll to the fanatic and criminal intentions of
a war-crazed class.
As the war uncoiled its weary length, and month after month of embargo
and privation saw the morale of the German nation growing steadily
lower, these murderous inventions were successively called into play
against the Allies, but as each horror was put into play on the
battle-field, its principles were solved by the scientists of the Allied
nations, and the deadly engine of destruction was turned with trebled
force against the Huns.
This happened with the various varieties of poison gas, with liquid
fire, with trench knives, with nail-studded clubs, with armor used by
shock troops, with airplane bombs, with cannon throwing projectiles
weighing thousands of pounds great distances behind the battle lines.
Not only did America and the Allies improve upon Germany's pattern in
these respects, but they added a few inventions that went far toward
turning the scale against Germany. An example of these is the "tank."
Originally this was a caterpillar tractor invented in America and
adopted in England. At first these were of two varieties, the male,
carrying heavy guns only, and the females, equipped with machine guns.
To these was later added the whippet tank, named after the racing dog
developed in England. These whippet tanks averaged eighteen miles an
hour, carrying death and terror into the ranks of the enemy. All the
tanks were heavily armored and had as their motto the significant words
"Treat 'Em Rough." The Germans designed a heavy anti-tank rifle about
three feet longer than the ordinary rifle and carrying a charge
calculated to pierce tank armor. These were issued to the German first
line trenches at the rate of three to a company. That they were not
particularly effective was proved by the ease with which the tanks of
all varieties tore through the barbed wire entanglements and passed over
the Hindenburg and Kriemhild lines, supposed by the Germans to be
impregnable.
The tanks in effect were mobile artillery and were used as such by all
the Allied troops. Germany frantically endeavored to manufacture tanks
to meet the Allied monsters, but their efforts were feeble when compared
with the great output opposed to them.
Before considering other inventions used for the first time in this war,
it is well to understand the tremendous changes in methods and tactics
made necessary by these discoveries.
Put into a sentence, the changed warfare amounts to this: it is a
mobilization of material, of railroads, great guns, machine guns, food,
airplanes and other engines of destruction quite as much as it is a
mobilization of men.
The Germans won battle after battle at the beginning of the war because
of their system of strategic railways that made it possible to transport
huge armies to selected points in the shortest possible time both on the
eastern and the western fronts. Lacking a system of transportation to
match this, Russia lost the great battles that decided her fate, Belgium
was over-run, and France, once the border was passed, became a
battle-field upon which the Germans might extend their trench systems
over the face of the land.
Lacking strategic railways to match those of Germany, France evolved an
effective substitute in the modern system of automobile transportation.
When von Kluck swung aside from Paris in his first great rush, Gallieni
sent out from Paris an army in taxicabs that struck the exposed flank
and went far toward winning the first battle of the Marne. It was the
truck transportation system of the French along the famous "Sacred Road"
back of the battle line at Verdun that kept inviolate the motto of the
heroic town, "They Shall Not Pass." Motor trucks that brought American
reserves in a khaki flood won the second battle of the Marne. It was
automobile transportation that enabled Haig to send the British
Canadians and Australians in full cry after the retreating Germans when
the backbone of the German resistance was broken before Lens, Cambrai,
and Ostend.
America's railway transportation system in France was one of the marvels
of the war. Stretching from the sector of seacoast set apart for America
by the French Government, it radiated far into the interior, delivering
men, munitions and food in a steady stream. American engineers worked
with their brothers-in-arms with the Allies to construct an
inter-weaving system of wide-gauge and narrow-gauge roads that served to
victual and munition the entire front and further serve to deliver at
top speed whole army corps. It was this network of strategic railways
that enabled the French to send an avalanche clad in horizon-blue to the
relief of Amiens when Hindenburg made his final tremendous effort of
1918.
In its essentials, military effort in the great conflict may be roughly
divided into
Open warfare,
Trench warfare,
Crater warfare.
The first battle of the Marne was almost wholly open warfare; so also
were the battles of the Masurian Lakes, Allenstein, and Dunajec in the
eastern theater of war, and most of the warfare on the Italian front
between the Piave River and Gorizia.
In this variety of battle, airplanes and observation balloons play a
prominent part. Once the enemy is driven out of its trenches, the
message is flashed by wireless to the artillery and slaughter at long
range begins. If there have been no intrenchments, as was the case in
the first battle of the Marne, massed artillery send a plunging fire
into the columns moving in open order and prepare the way for machine
gunners and infantry to finish the rout.
In previous wars, cavalry played a heroic role in open warfare; only
rarely has it been possible to use cavalry in the Great War. The Germans
sent a screen of Uhlans before its advancing hordes into Belgium and
Northern France in 1914. The Uhlans also were in the van in the Russian
invasion, but with these exceptions, German cavalry was a negligible
factor.
British and French cavalry were active in pursuit of the fleeing Teutons
when the Hindenburg line was smashed in September of 1918. Outside of
that brief episode, the cavalry did comparatively nothing so far as the
Allies were concerned. It was the practice on both sides to dismount
cavalry and convert it into some form of trench service. Trench mortar
companies, bombing squads, and other specialty groups were organized
from among the cavalrymen. Of course the fighting in the open stretches
of Mesopotamia, South Africa and Russia involved the use of great bodies
of cavalry. The trend of modern warfare, however, is to equip the
cavalryman with grenades and bayonets, in addition to his ordinary gear,
and to make of him practically a mounted infantryman.
Trench warfare occupied most of the time and made nine-tenths of the
discomforts of the soldiers of both armies. If proof of the adaptive
capacity of the human animal were needed, it is afforded by the manner
in which the men burrowed in vermin-infested earth and lived there under
conditions of Arctic cold, frequently enduring long deprivations of
food, fuel, and suitable clothing. During the early stages of the war,
before men became accustomed to the rigors of the trenches, many
thousands died as a direct result of the exposure. Many thousand of
others were incapacitated for life by "trench feet," a group of maladies
covering the consequences of exposure to cold and water which in those
early days flowed in rivulets through most of the trenches. The trenches
at Gallipoli had their own special brand of maladies. Heatstroke and a
malarial infection were among these disabling agencies. Trench fever, a
malady beginning with a headache and sometimes ending in partial
paralysis and death, was another common factor in the mortality records.
But in spite of all these and other discomforts, in spite of the
disgusting vermin that crawled upon the men both in winter and in
summer, both sides mastered the trenches and in the end learned to live
in them with some degree of comfort.
At first the trenches were comparatively straight, shallow affairs; then
as the artillery searched them out, as the machine gunners learned the
art of looping their fire so that the bullets would drop into the hiding
places of the enemy, the trench systems gradually became more
scientifically involved. After the Germans had been beaten at the Marne
and had retired to their prepared positions along the Aisne, there
commenced a series of flanking attempts by one side and the other which
speedily resolved itself into the famous "race to the sea." This was a
competition between the opposing armies in rapid trench digging. The
effort on either side was made to prevent the enemy from executing a
flank movement. In an amazingly short time the opposing trenches
extended from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border, making further
outflanking attempts impossible of achievement.
[Illustration: Map: The North Sea and surrounding countries--Norway,
Denmark, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany.]
FORTS, FLYING AND NAVAL BASES ON THE NORTH SEA
This was not the first time in history that intrenched armies opposed
each other. The Civil War in this country set the fashion in that
respect. The contending sides in the Great War, however, improved vastly
upon the American example. Communicating trenches were constructed,
leading back to the company kitchens, and finally to the open road
leading back to the rest billets of the armies.
When night raiding commenced, it was speedily seen that straight
trenches exposed whole companies of men to enfilading fire. Thereupon
bastions were made and new defenses presented by zig-zagging the
front-line trenches and the communicating ditches as well.
To the formidable obstacles presented by the trenches, equipped as they
were with sand-bag parapets and firing steps, were added barbed-wire
entanglements and pitfalls of various sorts. The greatest improvement
was made by the Germans, and they added "pill boxes." These were really
miniature fortresses of concrete and armor plate with a dome-shaped
roof and loopholes for machine gunners. Only a direct hit by a
projectile from a big gun served to demolish a "pill box." The Allies
learned after many costly experiments that the best method to overcome
these obstacles was to pass over and beyond them, leaving them isolated
in Allied territory, where they were captured at the leisure of the
attackers.
Trench warfare brings with it new instruments. There are the flame
projectors, which throw fire to a distance of approximately a hundred
feet. The Germans were the first to use these, but they were excelled in
this respect by the inventive genius of the nations opposing them.
The use of poison gas, the word being used in its broad sense, is now
general. It was first used by the Germans, but as in the case of flame
throwers, the Allies soon gained the ascendency.
[Illustration: Four photographs of tanks.]
TYPES OF LAND BATTLESHIPS DEVELOPED BY ALLIES AND GERMANS
British light tank, of 1918, with turret action and high speed
British Tank of earliest type, as used at Cambrai.
German land battleship in 1918 on the Western front
Improved French Tank first used in Champagne in 1916.
[Illustration: Painting]
CHARGING ON GERMAN TRENCHES IN GAS MASKS
Each British soldier carried two gas-proof helmets. At the first alarm
of gas the helmet was instantly adjusted, for to breathe even a whiff
of the yellow cloud meant death or serious injury. This picture shows
the earlier type before the respirator mask was devised to keep up
with Germany's development of gas warfare.
The first use of asphyxiating gas was by the Germans during the first
battle of Ypres. There the deadly compound was mixed in huge reservoirs
back of the German lines. From these extended a system of pipes with
vents pointed toward the British and Canadian lines. Waiting until air
currents were moving steadily westward, the Germans opened the
stop-cocks shortly after midnight and the poisonous fumes swept slowly,
relentlessly forward in a greenish cloud that moved close to the earth.
The result of that fiendish and cowardly act was that thousands of men
died in horrible agony without a chance for their lives.
Besides that first asphyxiating gas, there soon developed others even
more deadly. The base of most of these was chlorine. Then came the
lachrymatory or "tear-compelling" gases, calculated to produce
temporary or permanent blindness. Another German "triumph" was mustard
gas. This is spread in gas shells, as are all the modern gases. The
Germans abandoned the cumbersome gas-distributing system after the
invention of the gas shell. These make a peculiar gobbling sound as they
rush overhead. They explode with a very slight noise and scatter their
contents broadcast. The liquids carried by them are usually of the sort
that decompose rapidly when exposed to the air and give off the acrid
gases dreaded by the soldiers. They are directed against the artillery
as well as against intrenched troops. Every command, no matter how
small, has its warning signal in the shape of a gong or a siren warning
of approaching gas.
Gas masks were speedily discovered to offset the dangers of poison gases
of all kinds. These were worn not only by troops in the field, but by
artillery horses, pack mules, liaison dogs, and by the civilian
inhabitants in back of the battle lines. Where used quickly and in
accordance with instructions, these masks were a complete protection
against attacks by gas.
The perfected gas masks used by both sides contained a chamber filled
with a specially prepared charcoal. Peach pits were collected by the
millions in all the belligerent countries to make this charcoal, and
other vegetable substances of similar density were also used. Anti-gas
chemicals were mixed with the charcoal. The wearer of the mask breathed
entirely through the mouth, gripping a rubber mouthpiece while his nose
was pinched shut by a clamp attached to the mask.
In training, soldiers were required to hold their breath for six seconds
while the mask was being adjusted. It was explained to them that four
breaths of the deadly chlorine gas was sufficient to kill; the first
breath produced a spasm of the glottis; the second brought mental
confusion and delirium; the third produced unconsciousness; and the
fourth, death. The bag containing the gas mask and respirator was
carried always by the soldier.
The soldier during the winter season in the front line trenches was a
grotesque figure. His head was crowned with a helmet covered with khaki
because the glint of steel would advertise his whereabouts. Beneath the
helmet he wore a close fitting woolen cap pulled down tightly around his
ears and sometimes tied or buttoned beneath his chin. Suspended upon his
chest was the khaki bag containing gas mask and respirator. Over his
outer garments were his belt, brace straps, bayonet and ammunition
pouches. His rifle was slung upon his shoulder with the foot of a woolen
sock covering the muzzle and the leg of the same sock wrapped around the
breech. A large jerkin made of leather, without sleeves, was worn over
the short coat. Long rubber boots reaching to the hips and strapped at
ankle and hip completely covered his legs. When anticipating trench
raids, or on a raiding party, a handy trench knife and carefully slung
grenades were added to his equipment.
Airplane bombing ultimately changed the whole character of the war. It
extended the fighting lines miles behind the battle front. It brought
the horrors of night attacks upon troops resting in billets. It visited
destruction and death upon the civilian population of cities scores of
miles back of the actual front.
Germany transgressed repeatedly the laws of humanity by bombing
hospitals far behind the battle front. Describing one of these atrocious
attacks, which took place May 29, 1918, Colonel G. H. Andrews, chaplain
of a Canadian regiment, said:
"The building bombed was one of three large Red Cross hospitals at
Boulenes and was filled with Allied wounded. A hospital in which were a
number of wounded German prisoners stood not very far away.
"The Germans could not possibly have mistaken the building they bombed
for anything else but a hospital. There were flags with a red cross
flying, and lights were turned on them so that they would show
prominently. And the windows were brilliantly lighted. Those inside
heard the buzz of the advancing airplanes, but did not give them a
thought.
"The machines came right on, ignoring the hospital with the German
wounded, indicating they had full knowledge of their objective, until
they were over a wing of the Red Cross hospital that contained the
operating room on the ground floor. In the operating room a man was on
the table for a most difficult surgical feat. Around him were gathered
the staff of the hospital and its brilliant surgeons. Lieutenant Sage of
New York had just given him the anesthetic when one of the airplanes let
the bomb drop. It was a big fellow. It must have been all of 250 pounds
of high explosive.
"It hurtled downward, carrying the two floors before it. Through the gap
thus made wounded men, the beds in which they lay, convalescents, and
all on the floors came crashing down to the ground. The bomb's force
extended itself to wreck the operating room, where the man on the table,
Lieutenant Sage, and all in the room were killed. In all there were
thirty-seven lives lost, including three Red Cross nurses.
"The building caught fire. The concussion had blown the stairs down, so
that escape from the upper floors seemed impossible. But the
convalescents and the soldiers, who had run to the scene of the bombing,
let the very ill ones out of the windows, and escape was made in that
way.
"And then, to cap the climax, the German airplanes returned over the
spot of their ghastly triumph and fired on the rescuers with machine
guns. God will never forgive the Huns for that act alone. Nor will our
comrades ever forget it."
The statement of Colonel Andrews was corroborated by a number of other
officers.
To protect artillery against counter-fire of all kinds, both sides from
the beginning used the art of camouflage. This was resorted to
particularly against scouting airplanes. At first the branches of trees
and similar natural cover were used to deceive the airmen. Later the
guns themselves were painted with protective colorations, and screens of
burlap were used instead of branches. The camoufleur, as the camouflage
artist was called, speedily extended his activities to screens over
highways, preventing airmen from seeing troops in motion, to the
protective coloration of lookout posts, and of other necessary factors
along the fighting front. Camouflage also found great usefulness in the
protective coloration of battleships and merchant vessels. Scientific
study went hand in hand with the art, the object being to confuse the
enemy and to offer targets as small as possible to the enemy gunners.
Crater warfare came as a development of intensified artillery attacks
upon trench systems. It was at Dunajec on the eastern front that for the
first time in modern war the wheels of artillery were placed hub to hub
in intensified hurricane fire upon enemy positions. The result there
under von Mackensen's direction was the rout of the Russians. When later
the same tactics were employed on the western front, the result was to
destroy whole trench systems with the exception of deep dugouts, and to
send the occupants of the trenches into the craters, made by shell
explosions, for protection.
It was observed that, these craters made excellent cover and when linked
by vigorous use of the intrenching tools carried by every soldier, they
made a fair substitute for the trenches. This observation gave root to
an idea which was followed by both armies; this was the deliberate
creation of crater systems by the artillery of the attacking force. Into
these lines of craters the attacking infantry threw itself in wave after
wave as it rushed toward the enemy trenches. The ground is so riddled by
this intensive artillery fire that there is created what is known as
"moon terrain", fields resembling the surface of the moon as seen
through a powerful telescope. Troops on both sides were trained to
utilize these shell holes to the utmost, each little group occupying a
crater, keeping in touch with its nearest group and moving steadily in
unison toward the enemy.
One detail in which this war surpassed all others was in the use of
machine guns and grenades. The Germans were first to make extensive use
of the machine gun as a weapon with which to produce an effective
barrage. They established machine-gun nests at frequent intervals
commanding the zone over which infantry was to advance and by skilful
crossfire kept that terrain free from every living thing. The Germans
preferred a machine gun, water cooled and of the barrel-recoil type. The
English used a Vickers-Maxim and a Lewis gun, the latter the invention
of an officer in the American army. The French preferred the Hotchkiss
and the Saint-Etienne. The Americans standardized the Browning light and
heavy machine guns, and these did effective service. It was asserted by
American gunnery experts that the Browning excels all other weapons of
its type.
Two general types of grenades were used on both sides. One a defensive
bomb about the size of an orange, containing a bursting charge weighing
twenty-two ounces. Then there was a grenade used for offensive work
carrying about thirty-two ounces of high explosives. The defensive
grenades were of cast iron and so made that they burst into more than a
hundred jagged pieces when they exploded. These wounded or killed within
a radius of one hundred and fifty yards. In exceptional instances, the
range was higher.
The function of artillery in a modern battle is constantly extending.
Both the big guns and the howitzers were the deciding factors in most of
the military decisions reached during the war. Artillery is divided
first between the big guns having a comparatively flat trajectory and
the howitzers whose trajectory is curved. Then there is a further
division into these four classes:
Field artillery,
Heavy artillery,
Railroad artillery,
Trench artillery.
The type of field artillery is the famous 75-millimeter gun used
interchangeably by the French and Americans. It is a quick-firing weapon
and is used against attacking masses and for the various kind of
barrages, including an anti-aircraft barrage.
Included in the heavy artillery are guns and howitzers of larger caliber
than the 75-millimeter. Three distinct and terrifying noises accompany
explosions of these guns. First, there is the explosion when the shell
leaves the gun; then there is the peculiar rattling noise like the
passing of a railway train when the shells pass overhead; then there is
the explosion at point of contact, a terrific concussion which produces
the human condition called "shell-shock," a derangement of body and
brain, paralyzing nerve and muscle centers and frequently producing
insanity.
The railroad artillery comprises huge guns pulled on railways by
locomotives, each gun having a number of cars as part of its equipment.
These are slow-firing guns of great power and hurling the largest
projectiles known to warfare. The largest guns of this class were
produced by American inventive genius as a reply to the German gun of
St. Gobain Forest. This was a weapon which hurled a nine-inch shell from
a distance of sixty-two miles into the heart of Paris. The damage done
by it was comparatively slight and it had no appreciable effect upon the
morale of the Parisians.
Its greatest damage was when it struck the Roman Catholic Church of St.
Gervais on Good Friday, March 29, 1918, killing seventy-five persons and
wounding ninety. Fifty-four of those killed were women, five being
Americans. The total effect of the bombardment by this big gun was to
arouse France, England and America to a fiercer fighting pitch. The late
Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York, expressed this sentiment, when
he sent the following message to the Archbishop of Paris:
Shocked by the brutal killing of innocent victims gathered at religious
services to commemorate the passing of our blessed Saviour on Good
Friday, the Catholics of New York join your noble protest against this
outrage of the sanctuary on such a day and at such an hour and,
expressing their sympathy to the bereaved relatives of the dead and
injured, pledge their unfaltering allegiance in support of the common
cause that unites our two great republics. May God bless the brave
officers and men of the Allied armies in their splendid defense of
liberty and justice!
Trench artillery are Stokes guns and other mortars hurling aerial
torpedoes containing great quantities of high explosives. These have
curved trajectories and are effective not only against trenches but also
against deep dugouts, wire entanglements and listening posts.
One of the most important details of modern warfare is that of
communication or liaison on the battlefield. This is accomplished by
runners recruited from the trenches, by dogs, pigeons, telephone, radio.
As has been heretofore stated, the airplane considered in all its
developments, is the newest and most important of factors in modern
warfare. It photographs the enemy positions, it detects concentrations
and other movements of the enemy, it makes surprise impossible, it is a
deadly engine of destruction when used in spraying machine-gun fire upon
troops in the open. As a bombing device, it surpasses the best and most
accurate artillery.
CHAPTER XV
GERMAN PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA IN AMERICA
The pages of Germany's militaristic history are black with many shameful
deeds and plots. Those pages upon which are written the intrigues
against the peace of America and against the lives and properties of
American citizens during the period between the declaration of war in
1914 and the armistice ending the war, while not so bloody as those
relating to the atrocities in Belgium and Northern France are still
revolting to civilized mankind.
Germany not only paid for the murder of passengers on ships where its
infernal machines were placed, not only conspired for the destruction of
munition plants and factories of many kinds, not only sought to embroil
the United States, then neutral, in a war with Mexico and Japan, but it
committed also the crime of murderous hypocrisy by conspiring to do
these wrongs under the cloak of friendship for this country.
It was in December of 1915 that the German Government sent to the United
States for general publication in American newspapers this statement:
The German Government has naturally never knowingly accepted the support
of any person, group of persons, society or organization seeking to
promote the cause of Germany in the United States by illegal acts, by
counsel of violence, by contravention of law, or by any means whatever
that could offend the American people in the pride of their own
authority.
The answer to this imperial lie came from the President of the United
States, when, in his address to Congress, April 2, 1917, urging a
declaration of war on Germany, he characterized the German spy system
and its frightful fruits in the following language:
"One of the things that has served to convince us that the Prussian
autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very
outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting communities,
and even our offices of government, with spies, and set criminal
intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity of counsel, our
peace within and without, our industries and our commerce. Indeed it is
now evident that its spies were here even before the war began; and it
is unhappily not a matter of conjecture, but a fact proved in our courts
of justice, that the intrigues which have more than once come perilously
near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the industries of the
country have been carried on at the instigation, with the support, and
even under the personal direction of official agents of the Imperial
Government accredited to the Government of the United States."
Austria co-operated with Germany in a feeble way in these plots and
propaganda, but the master plotter was Count Johann von Bernstorff,
Germany's Ambassador. The Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, Constantin
Theodor Dumba, Captain Franz von Papen, Captain Karl Boy-Ed, Dr.
Heinrich F. Albert, and Wolf von Igel, all of whom were attached to the
German Embassy, were associates in the intrigues. Franz von Rintelen
operated independently and received his funds and instructions directly
from Berlin.
One of the earliest methods of creating disorder in American munition
plants and other industrial establishments engaged in war work was
through labor disturbances. With that end in view a general German
employment bureau was established in August, 1915, in New York City. It
had branches in Philadelphia, Bridgeport, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago
and Cincinnati. These cities at that time were the centers of industries
engaged in furnishing munitions and war supplies to the Entente allies.
Concerning this enterprise Ambassador Dumba, writing to Baron Burian,
Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, said:
A private German employment office has been established which provides
employment for persons who have voluntarily given up their places, and
it is already working well. We shall also join in and the widest support
is assured us.
The duties of men sent from the German employment offices into munition
plants may be gathered from the following frank circular issued on
November 2, 1914, by the German General Headquarters and reprinted in
the Freie Zeitung, of Berne.
GENERAL HEADQUARTERS TO THE MILITARY REPRESENTATIVE
ON THE RUSSIAN AND FRENCH FRONTS, AS WELL AS IN ITALY AND NORWAY.
In all branch establishments of German banking houses in Sweden, Norway,
Switzerland, China and the United States, special military accounts have
been opened for special war necessities. Main headquarters authorizes
you to use these credits to an unlimited extent for the purpose of
destroying factories, workshops, camps, and the most important centers
of military and civil supply belonging to the enemy. In addition to the
incitement of labor troubles, measures must be taken for the damaging of
engines and machinery plants, the destruction of vessels carrying war
material to enemy countries, the burning of stocks of raw materials and
finished goods, and the depriving of large industrial centers of
electric power, fuel and food. Special agents, who will be placed at
your disposal, will supply you with the necessary means for effecting
explosions and fires, as well as with a list of people in the country
under your supervision who are willing to undertake the task of
destruction.
(Signed) DR. E. FISCHER.
Shortly after the establishment of the German employment bureau,
Ambassador Dumba sent the following communication to the Austrian
Foreign Office:
It is my impression that we can disorganize and hold up for months, if
not entirely prevent, the manufacture of munitions in Bethlehem and the
Middle West, which, in the opinion of the German military attache, is of
importance and amply outweighs the comparatively small expenditure of
money involved.
Concerning the operations of the arson and murder squad organized by von
Bernstorff, Dumba and their associates, it is only necessary to turn to
the records of the criminal courts of the United States and Canada. Take
for example the case against Albert Kaltschmidt, living in Detroit,
Michigan. The United States grand jury sitting in Detroit indicted
Kaltschmidt and his fellow conspirators upon the following counts:
"To blow up the factory of the Peabody's Company, Limited, at
Walkerville, Ontario, ... engaged in manufacturing uniforms, clothing
and military supplies ...
"To blow up the building known as the Windsor Armories of the City of
Windsor.
"To blow up and destroy other plants and buildings in said Dominion of
Canada, which were used for the manufacture of munitions of war,
clothing and uniforms.
"To blow up and destroy the great railroad bridges of the Canadian
Pacific Railroad at Nipigon. . . .
"To employ and send into said Dominion of Canada spies to obtain
military information."
Besides the acts enumerated in the indictment it was proved upon trial
that Kaltschmidt and his gang planned to blow up the Detroit Screw Works
where shrapnel was being manufactured, and to destroy the St. Clair
tunnel, connecting Canada with the United States. Both of these plans
failed. Associated with Kaltschmidt in these plots were Captain von
Papen, Baron Kurt von Reiswitz, German consul-general in Chicago;
Charles F. Respa, Richard Herman, and William M. Jarasch, the latter two
German reservists. Testifying in the case Jarasch, a bartender, said:
"Jacobsen (an aide) told me that munition factories in Canada were to be
blown up. Before I left for Detroit, Jacobsen and I went to the
consulate. We saw the consul and he shook hands with me and wished me
success."
Charles F. Respa, in his testimony made the following revelations in
response to questions by the government's representatives:
Q. How long had you been employed before he (Kaltschmidt) told you that
he wanted you to blow up some of these factories? A. About three weeks.
Q. Did Kaltschmidt at the time speak of any particular place that he
wanted you to blow up? A. The particular place was the Armory.
Q. Did he mention the Peabody Building at that time? A. Not
particularly--he was more after the bridges and the armories and wanted
those places blown up that made ammunition and military clothing.
Q. The explosion at the armories was to be timed so that it would occur
when the soldiers were asleep there? A. Yes--he did not mention that he
wanted to kill soldiers.
Q. Did he say that if the dynamite in the suitcase exploded it would
kill the soldiers? A. I do not remember that he said so, but he must
have known it.
Q. Did you take both grips? A. Yes. Q. Where did you set the first grip?
A. By the Peabody plant (blown up on June 20,1915).
Q. Where did you put the other suitcase? A. Then I walked down the
Walkerville road to the Armories at Windsor, and carried the suitcase.
Q. When you got to the Armories did you know where to place it? A. I had
my instructions.
Q. From Kaltschmidt? A. Yes.
Q. Did you place this suitcase containing the dynamite bomb at the
armory in a proper place to explode and do any damage? A. Yes.
Q. Was it properly connected so that the cap would explode and strike
the dynamite? A. I fixed it so that it would not.
Q. Did you deliberately fix this bomb that you took to the Armories so
that it would not explode? A. Yes.
Q. Why did you do that? A. I knew that the suitcase contained thirty
sticks of dynamite and if exploded would blow up the Armories and all
the ammunition and kill every man in it.
It is interesting to note in this connection that Kaltschmidt was
sentenced to four years in the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas,
and to pay a fine of $20,000. Horn's sentence was eighteen months in the
Atlanta penitentiary and a fine of $1,000.
Attempts were also made to close by explosions the tunnels through which
the Canadian Pacific Railroad passes under the Selkirk Mountains in
British Columbia. The German General Staff in this instance operated
through Franz Bopp, the German consul-general in San Francisco, and
Lieutenant von Brincken. J. H. van Koolbergen was hired to do this work.
Concerning the negotiations, van Koolbergen made this statement:
"Not knowing what he wanted I went to see him. He was very pleasant and
told me that he was an officer in the German army and at present working
in the secret service of the German Empire under Mr. Franz Bopp, the
Imperial German consul.
"I went to the consulate and met Franz Bopp and then saw von Brincken in
another room. He asked me if I would do something for him in Canada and
I answered him, 'Sure, I will do something, even blow up bridges, if
there is money in it.' And he said, 'You are the man; if that is so, you
can make good money.'
"Von Brincken told me that they were willing to send me up to Canada to
blow up one of the bridges on the Canadian Pacific Railroad or one of
the tunnels. I asked him what was in it and he said he would talk it
over with the German consul, Bopp.
"I had accepted von Brincken's proposition to go to Canada and he
offered me $500 to defray my expenses. On different occasions, in his
room, von Brincken showed me maps and information about Canada, and
pointed out to me where he wanted the act to be done. This was to be
between Revelstake and Vancouver on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and I
was to get $3,000 in case of a successful blowing up of a military
bridge or tunnel."
Van Koolbergen only made a pretended effort to blow up the tunnel. He
did furnish the evidence, however, which served to send Bopp and his
associates to the penitentiary.
Even more sensational was the plot against the international bridge upon
which the Grand Trunk Railway crosses the border between the United
States and Canada at Vanceboro, Me.
Werner Horn was a German reserve lieutenant. Von Papen delivered to him
a flat order to blow up the bridge and he gave him $700 for the purpose
of perpetrating the outrage. Horn was partially successful. At his trial
in Boston in June, 1917, he made the following confession:
"I admit and state that the facts set forth in the indictments as to the
conveyance of explosives on certain passenger trains from New York to
Boston and from Boston to Vanceboro, in the State of Maine, are true. I
did, as therein alleged, receive an explosive and conveyed the same from
the city of New York to Boston, thence by common carrier from Boston to
Vanceboro, Maine. On or about the night of February 1, 1915, I took said
explosive in a suitcase in which I was conveying it and carried the same
across the bridge at Vanceboro to the Canadian side, and there, about
1.10 in the morning of February 2, 1915, I caused said explosive to be
exploded near or against the abutments of the bridge on the Canadian
side, with intent to destroy the abutment and cripple the bridge so that
the same could not be used for the passage of trains."
Bribery of Congressmen was intended by Franz von Rintelen, operating
directly in touch with the German Foreign Office in Berlin. Count von
Bernstorff sent the following telegram to Berlin in connection with his
plan:
I request authority to pay out up to $50,000 in order, as on former
occasions, to influence Congress through the organization you know of,
which can perhaps prevent war. I am beginning in the meantime to act
accordingly. In the above circumstances, a public official German
declaration in favor of Ireland is highly desirable, in order to gain
the support of the Irish influence here.
That it was Rintelen's purpose to use large sums of money for the
purpose of bribing Congressmen was stated positively by George Plochman,
treasurer of the Transatlantic Trust Company, where Rintelen kept his
deposits.
Rintelen was the main figure on this side of the water in the fantastic
plot to have Mexico and Japan declare war upon the United States. During
the trial of Rintelen in New York City in May, 1917, it was testified
"that he came to the United States in order to embroil it with Mexico
and Japan if necessary; that he was doing all he could and was going to
do all he could to embroil this country with Mexico; that he believed
that if the United States had a war with Mexico it would stop the
shipment of ammunition to Europe; that he believed it would be only a
matter of time until we were involved with Japan."
Rintelen also said that "General Huerta was going to return to Mexico
and start a revolution there which would cause the United States to
intervene and so make it impossible to ship munitions to Europe.
Intervention," he said, "was one of his trump cards."
Mexico was the happy hunting-ground for pro-German plotters, and the
German Ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt, was the leader in
all the intrigues. The culmination of Germany's effort against America
on this continent came on January 19, 1917, when Dr. Alfred Zimmerman,
head of the German Foreign Office, sent the following cable to
Ambassador von Eckhardt:
On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare
unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to keep
neutral the United States of America.
If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the
following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and
together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is
understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico,
Texas and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement. You are
instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the
greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an
outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that the President
of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan
suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to
mediate between Germany and Japan.
Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the
employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England
to make peace in a few months.
ZIMMERMAN.
This was almost three months before the United States entered the war.
As an example of German blindness and diplomatic folly it stands
unrivaled in the annals of the German Foreign Office.
Plots against shipping were the deadliest in which the German
conspirators engaged. Death and destruction followed in their wake. In
direct connection of von Bernstorff and his tools with these outrages
the following testimony by an American secret service man employed by
Wolf von Igel is interesting. It refers to an appointment with Captain
von Kleist, superintendent of Scheele's bomb factory in Hoboken, N. J.
"We sat down and we spoke for about three hours. I asked him the
different things that he did, and said if he wanted an interview with
Mr. von Igel, my boss, he would have to tell everything. So he told me
that von Papen gave Dr. Scheele, the partner of von Kleist in this
factory, a check for $10,000 to start this bomb factory. He told me that
he, Mr. von Kleist, and Dr. Scheele and a man by the name of Becker on
the Friedrich der Grosse were making the bombs, and that Captain
Wolpert, Captain Bode and Captain Steinberg, had charge of putting these
bombs on the ships; they put these bombs in cases and shipped them as
merchandise on these steamers, and they would go away on the trip and
the bombs would go off after the ship was out four or five days, causing
a fire and causing the cargo to go up in flames. He also told me that
they have made quite a number of these bombs; that thirty of them were
given to a party by the name of O'Leary, and that he took them down to
New Orleans where he had charge of putting them on ships down there,
this fellow O'Leary."
About four hundred bombs were made under von Igel's direction;
explosions and fires were caused by them on thirty-three ships sailing
from New York harbor alone.
Four of the bombs were found at Marseilles on a vessel which sailed from
Brooklyn in May, 1915. The evidence collected in the case led to the
indictment of the following men for feloniously transporting on the
steamship Kirk Oswald a bomb or bombs filled with chemicals designed to
cause incendiary fires: Rintelen, Wolpert, Bode, Schmidt, Becker,
Garbade, Praedel, Paradies, von Kleist, Schimmel, Scheele, Steinberg and
others. The last three named fled from justice, Scheele being supplied
with $1,000 for that purpose by Wolf von Igel. He eluded the Federal
authorities until April, 1918, when he was found hiding in Cuba under
the protection of German secret service agents. All the others except
Schmidt were found guilty and sentenced, on February 5, 1918, to
imprisonment for eighteen months and payment of a fine of $2,000 each.
It was proved during the trial that Rintelen had hired Schimmel, a
German lawyer, to see that bombs were placed on ships.
Schmidt, von Kleist, Becker, Garbade, Praedel and Paradies had already
been tried for conspiracy to make bombs for concealment on ocean-going
vessels, with the purpose of setting the same on fire. All were found
guilty, and on April 6, 1917, von Kleist and Schmidt were sentenced to
two years imprisonment and a fine of $500 each.
Robert Fay, a former officer in the German army, who came to the United
States in April, 1915, endeavored to prevent the traffic in munitions by
sinking the laden ships at sea. In recounting the circumstances of his
arrival here to the chief of the United States secret service, Fay said:
". . .I had in the neighborhood of $4,000.... This money came from a man
who sent me over ... (named) Jonnersen. The understanding was that it
might be worth while to stop the shipment of artillery munitions from
this country. . . . I imagined Jonnersen to be in the (German) secret
service."
After stating that he saw von Papen and Boy-Ed, and that neither would
have anything to do with him, apparently because suspicious of his
identity, Fay continued:
"I did not want to return (to Germany) without having carried out my
intention, that is, the destruction of ships carrying munitions. I
proceeded with my experiments and tried to get hold of as much explosive
matter as in any way possible. . . ."
Fay and two confederates were arrested in a lonely spot near Grantwood,
New Jersey, while testing an explosive. During his examination at police
headquarters in Weehawken immediately after the arrest he was questioned
as follows:
Q. That large machine you have downstairs, what is that?
A. That is a patent of mine. It is a new way of getting a time fuse. ...
Q. Did you know where Scholz (Fay's brother-in-law) had this machine
made?
A. In different machine shops.
Q. What material is it you wanted (from Daeche, an accomplice)?
A. Trinitrotoluol (T. N. T.). ...
Q. How much did the machinery cost?
A. Roughly speaking, $150 or $200.
Q. What would be the cost of making one and filling it with explosives?
A. About $250 each ... If they had given me money enough I should simply
have been able to block the shipping entirely.
Q. Do you mean you could have destroyed every ship that left the harbor
by means of those bombs?
A. I would have been able to stop so many that the authorities would not
have dared (to send out any ships).
It was proved during Fay's trial that his bomb was a practical device,
and that its forty pounds of explosive would sink any ship to which it
was attached.
Fay and his accomplices, Scholz and Daeche, were convicted of conspiracy
to attach explosive bombs to the rudders of vessels, with the intention
of wrecking the same when at sea, and were sentenced, on May 9, 1916, to
terms of eight, four and two years respectively, in the federal
penitentiary at Atlanta. Dr. Herbert Kienzle and Max Breitung, who
assisted Fay in procuring explosives, were indicted on the same charge.
Both were interned.
Another plan for disabling ships was suggested by a man who remained for
some time unknown. He called one day at the German Military Information
Bureau, maintained at 60 Wall Street by Captain von Papen, of the German
embassy, and there gave the following outline of his plan:
"I intend to cause serious damage to vessels of the Allies leaving ports
of the United States by placing bombs, which I am making myself, on
board. These bombs resemble ordinary lumps of coal and I am planning to
have them concealed in the coal to be laden on steamers of the Allies. I
have already discussed this plan with ... at ... and he thinks favorably
of my idea. I have been engaged on similar work in ... after the outbreak
of the war, together with Mr. von ..."
[Illustration: Painting]
WOMEN AT WORK THAT MEN MAY FIGHT
The women of the world took up quickly almost every masculine task in
industry to release their menfolk for the firing line. They were
especially valuable in the munitions factories of England, as shown
above. The women in the foreground are testing shell cases for size,
while those in the background work the lathes.
[Illustration: Painting]
THE FINAL TRIBUTE
Allied airman dropping a wreath on the grave of a comrade who fell and
was buried within the German lines.
[Illustration: Photograph]
A BELGIAN MILITARY OBSERVATION BALLOON
Large numbers of these balloons, which came to be known as sausages,
were used by the Allied armies on all fronts.
The German secret service report from which the above excerpt is taken
states that the maker of the bomb was paid by check No. 146 for $150
drawn on the Riggs National Bank of Washington. A photographic copy of
this check shows that it was payable to Paul Koenig, of the
Hamburg-American Line, and was signed by Captain von Papen. On the
counterfoil is written this memorandum, "For F. J. Busse." Busse
confessed later that he had discussed with Captain von Papen at the
German Club in New York City the plan of damaging the boilers of
munition ships with bombs which resembled lumps of coal.
Free access to Allied ships laden with supplies for Vladivostok would
have been invaluable to the conspirators, and in order to obtain it
Charles C. Crowley, a detective employed by Consul-General Bopp,
resorted to the extraordinary scheme revealed in the following letter to
Madam Bakhmeteff, wife of the Russian Ambassador to the United States:
MME J. BAKHMETEFF, care Imperial Russian Embassy, Newport, R. I.: DEAR
MADAM:--By direction of the Imperial Russian Consul-General of San
Francisco, I beg to submit the following on behalf of several
fruit-growers of the State of California. As it is the wish of certain
growers to contribute several tons of dried fruit to the Russian Red
Cross they desire to have arrangements made to facilitate the
transportation of this fruit from Tacoma, Washington, to Vladivostok,
and as we are advised that steamships are regularly plying between
Tacoma and Vladivostok upon which government supplies are shipped we
would like to have arrangements made that these fruits as they might
arrive would be regularly consigned to these steamers and forwarded. It
would be necessary, therefore, that an understanding be had with the
agents of these steamship lines at Tacoma that immediate shipments be
made via whatever steamers might be sailing.
It is the desire of the donors that there be no delay in the shipments
as delays would lessen the benefits intended to those for whom the fruit
was provided ....
Respectfully yours,
C. C. CROWLEY.
The statements of Louis J. Smith and van Koolbergen, combined with a
mass of other evidence consisting in part of letters and telegrams,
caused the grand jury to indict Consul-General Bopp, his staff and his
hired agents, for conspiracy to undertake a military enterprise against
Canada. Among the purposes of this enterprise specified in the
indictment was the following:
"To blow up and destroy with their cargoes and crews any and all vessels
belonging to Great Britain, France, Japan or Russia found within the
limits of Canada, which were laden with horses, munitions of war, or
articles of commerce in course of transportation to the above
countries...."
The following descriptions have been made by the United States
Government of the tools of von Bernstorff in German plots:
Paul Koenig, the head of the Hamburg-American secret service, who was
active in passport frauds, who induced Gustave Stahl to perjure himself
and declare the Lusitania armed, and who plotted the destruction of the
Welland Canal. In his work as a spy he passed under thirteen aliases in
this country and Canada.
Captains Boy-Ed, von Papen, von Rintelen, Tauscher, and von Igel were
all directly connected with the German Government itself. There is now
in the possession of the United States Government a check made out to
Koenig and signed by von Papen, identified by number in a secret report
of the German Bureau of Investigation as being used to procure $150 for
the payment of a bomb-maker, who was to plant explosives disguised as
coal in the bunkers of the merchant vessels clearing from the port of
New York. Boy-Ed, Dr. Bunz, the German ex-minister to Mexico, the German
consul at San Francisco, and officials of the Hamburg-American and North
German Lloyd steamship lines evaded customs regulations and coaled and
victualed German raiders at sea. Von Papen and von Igel supervised the
making of the incendiary bombs on the Friedrich der Grosse, then in New
York Harbor, and stowed them away on outgoing ships. Von Rintelen
financed Labor's National Peace Council, which tried to corrupt
legislators and labor leaders.
A lesser light of this galaxy was Robert Fay, who invented an explosive
contrivance which he tied to the rudder posts of vessels. According to
his confession and that of his partner in murder, the money came from
the German secret police.
Among the other tools of the German plotters were David Lamar and Henry
Martin, who, in the pay of Captain von Rintelen, organized and managed
the so-called Labor's National Peace Council, which sought to bring
about strikes, an embargo on munitions, and a boycott of the banks which
subscribed to the Anglo-French loan. A check for $5,000 to J. F. J.
Archibald for propaganda work, and a receipt from Edwin Emerson, the war
correspondent, for $1,000 traveling expenses were among the documents
found in Wolf von Igel's possession.
Others who bore English names were persuaded to take leading places in
similar organizations which concealed their origin and real purpose. The
American Embargo Conference arose out of the ashes of Labor's Peace
Council, and its president was American, though the funds were not.
Others tampered with were journalists who lent themselves to the German
propaganda and who went so far as to serve as couriers between the
Teutonic embassies in Washington and the governments in Berlin and
Vienna. A check of $5,000 was discovered which Count von Bernstorff had
sent to Marcus Braun, editor of Fair Play. And a letter was discovered
which George Sylvester Viereck, editor of the Fatherland, sent to Privy
Councilor Albert, the German agent, arranging for a monthly subsidy of
$1,750, to be delivered to him through the hands of
intermediaries--women whose names he abbreviates "to prevent any
possible inquiry." There is a record of $3,000 paid through the German
embassy to finance the lecture tour of Miss Ray Beveridge, an American
artist, who was further to be supplied with German war pictures.
The German propagandists also directed their efforts to poisoning the
minds of the people through the circulation of lies concerning affairs
in France and at home. Here are some of the rumors circulated throughout
the country that were nailed as falsehoods:
It was said that the national registration of women by the Food
Administration was to find out how much money each had in the bank, how
much of this was owed, and everything about each registrant's personal
affairs.
That the millions collected from the public for the Red Cross went into
the pockets of thieves, and that the soldiers and sailors got none of
it, nor any of its benefits.
That base hospital units had been annihilated while en route overseas.
That leading members of other hospital units had been executed as spies
by the American Government.
That canned goods put up by the housewives were to be seized by the
government and appropriated to the use of the army and navy.
That soldiers in training were being instructed to put out the eyes of
every German captured.
That all of the "plums" at the officers' training camps fell to Roman
Catholics. The plums went to Protestants when the propagandist talked to
a Catholic.
That the registration of women was held so that girls would be enticed
into the cities where white slaves were made of them.
That the battleship Pennsylvania had been destroyed with everyone on
board by a German submarine.
That more than seventy-five per cent of the American soldiers in France
had been infected with venereal diseases.
That intoxicants were given freely to American soldiers in Y. M. C. A.
and Knights of Columbus huts in France.
But the lies and the plots failed to make any impression on the morale
of American citizenry. In fact, America from the moment war was declared
against Germany until the time an armistice was declared, seemed to care
for nothing but results. Charges of graft made with bitter invective in
Congress created scarcely more than a ripple. The harder the pro-German
plotters worked for the destruction of property and the incitement to
labor disturbances, the closer became the protective network of
Americanism against these anti-war influences. After half a dozen German
lies had been casually passed from mouth to mouth as rumors; the
American people came to look upon other mischievous propaganda in its
true light. Patriotic newspapers in every community exposed the false
reports and citizens everywhere were on their guard against the
misstatements. It was noticeable that the propaganda was intensified
just previous to and during the several Liberty Loan campaigns. Proof
that the American spirit rises superior to anti-American influences is
furnished by the glorious records of these Liberty Loans. Every one was
over-subscribed despite the severest handicaps confronted by any nation.
CHAPTER XVI
SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA
The United States was brought face to face with the Great War and with
what it meant in ruthless destruction of life when, on May 7, 1915, the
crack Cunard Liner Lusitania, bound from New York to Liverpool, with
1,959 persons aboard, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off
Old Head of Kinsale, Southwestern Ireland. Two torpedoes reached their
mark. The total number of lives lost when the ship sunk was 1,198. Of
these 755 were passengers and the remainder were members of the crew. Of
the drowned passengers, 124 were Americans and 35 were infants.
"Remember the Lusitania!" later became a battlecry just as "Remember the
Maine!" acted as a spur to Americans during the war with Spain. It was
first used by the famous "Black Watch" and later American troops shouted
it as they went into battle.
The sinking of the Lusitania, with its attendant destruction of life,
sent a thrill of horror through the neutral peoples of the world.
General opposition to the use of submarines in attacking peaceful
shipping, especially passenger vessels, crystallized as the result of
the tragedy, and a critical diplomatic controversy between the United
States and Germany developed. The American Government signified its
determination to break off friendly relations with the German Empire
unless the ruthless practices of the submarine commanders were
terminated. Germany temporarily agreed to discontinue these practices.
Among the victims of the Cunarder's destruction were some of the best
known personages of the Western Hemisphere. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt,
multimillionaire; Charles Frohman, noted theatrical manager; Charles
Klein, dramatist, who wrote "The Lion and the Mouse;" Justus Miles
Forman, author, and Elbert Hubbard, known as Fra Elbertus, widely read
iconoclastic writer, were drowned.
The ocean off the pleasant southern coast of Ireland was dotted with
bodies for days after the sinking of the liner. The remains of many of
the victims, however, never were recovered.
When the Lusitania prepared to sail from New York on her last trip,
fifty anonymous telegrams addressed to prominent persons aboard the
vessel warned the recipients not to sail with the liner. In addition to
these warnings was an advertisement inserted in the leading metropolitan
newspapers by the German embassy, advising neutral persons that British
steamships were in danger of destruction in the war zone about the
British Isles. This notice appeared the day the Lusitania sailed, May
1st, and was placed next the advertisement of the Cunard Line. Following
is the advertisement:
NOTICE!
Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a
state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and
her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the
British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the
Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or
of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that
travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her
allies do so at their own risk.
Imperial German Embassy,
Washington, D. C., April 22, 1915.
Little or no attention was paid to the warnings, only the usual number
of persons canceling their reservations, The general agent of the Cunard
Line at New York assured the passengers that the Lusitania's voyage
would be attended by no risk whatever, referring to the liner's speed
and water-tight compartments.
As the great Cunarder drew near the scene of her disaster, traveling at
moderate speed along her accustomed route, there was news of freight
steamers falling victims to Germany's undersea campaign. It was not
definitely established, however, whether the liner was warned of danger.
At two o'clock on the fine afternoon of May 7th, some ten miles off the
Old Head of Kinsale, the Lusitania was sighted by a submarine 1,000
yards away. A second later the track of a torpedo, soon followed by
another, was seen and each missile crashed into the Lusitania's hull
with rending detonations.
Many were killed or injured immediately by the explosions.
Before the liner's headway was lost, some boats were lowered, and
capsized as a result. The immediate listing of the steamship added to
the difficulties of rescue and increased the tragical toll of dead.
Much heroism and calmness were displayed by many in the few minutes the
liner remained afloat. The bearing of Frohman, Vanderbilt, Hubbard and
other Americans was declared to have been particularly inspiring.
Rescue ships and naval vessels rushed to the aid of the survivors from
all nearby ports of Ireland.
It has been said that the sinking of the Lusitania was carefully planned
by the chiefs of the German admiralty. They expected, it was believed,
to demoralize British shipping and strike terror into the minds of the
British people by showing that the largest and swiftest of liners could
easily be destroyed by submarines.
According to the Paris paper, La Guerre Sociale, published by Gustave
Herve, the submarine responsible was the U-21, commanded by Lieutenant
Hersing. Hersing was said to have been decorated for his deed. The U-21
afterwards was destroyed and the story of its participation in the
sinking of the great Cunarder never was confirmed.
Immediately upon the news of the Lusitania disaster, President Wilson
took steps to hold Germany to that "strict accountability" of which he
had notified Berlin when the war-zone operations were begun earlier in
the year. His first communication, protesting against the sinking of the
liner in the name of humanity and demanding disavowal, indemnity and
assurance that the crime would not be repeated, was despatched on May
13th. On May 30th the German reply argued that the liner carried
munitions of war and probably was armed.
The following official German version of the incident by the German
Admiralty Staff over the signature of Admiral Behncke was given:
"The submarine sighted the steamer, which showed no flag, May 7th, at
2.20 o'clock, Central European time, afternoon, on the southeast coast
of Ireland, in fine, clear weather.
"At 3.10 o'clock one torpedo was fired at the Lusitania, which hit her
starboard side below the captain's bridge. The detonation of the torpedo
was followed immediately by a further explosion of extremely strong
effect. The ship quickly listed to starboard and began to sink.
"The second explosion must be traced back to the ignition of quantities
of ammunition inside the ship."
These extenuations were all rejected by the United States, and the next
note prepared by President Wilson was of such character that Secretary
of State Bryan resigned. This second communication was sent on June
11th, and on June 22d another was cabled. September 1st Germany accepted
the contentions of the United States in regard to submarine warfare upon
peaceful shipping. There were continued negotiations concerning the
specific settlement to be made in the case of the Lusitania.
On February 4th, 1916, arrived a German proposition which, coupled with
personal parleys carried on between German Ambassador von Bernstorff and
United States Secretary of State Lansing, seemed in a fair way to
conclude the whole controversy. It was announced on February 8th that
the two nations were in substantial accord and Germany was declared to
have admitted the sinking of the liner was wrong and unjustified and
promised that reparation would be made.
However, a week later, when Germany took advantage of tentative American
proposals concerning the disarming of merchant ships, by announcing that
all armed hostile merchantmen would be treated as warships and attacked
without warning, the almost completed agreement was overthrown. The
renewed negotiations were continuing when the torpedoing of the
cross-channel passenger ship Sussex, without warning, on March 24th,
impelled the United States to issue a virtual ultimatum, demanding that
the Germans immediately cease their present methods of naval warfare on
pain of the rupture of diplomatic relations with the most powerful
existing neutral nation.
The Lusitania, previous to her sinking, had figured in the war news,
first at the conflict, when it was feared she had been captured by a
German cruiser while she was dashing across the Atlantic toward
Liverpool, and again in February of 1915, when she flew the American
flag as a ruse to deceive submarines while crossing the Irish Sea. This
latter incident called forth a protest from the United States.
On her fatal trip the cargo of the Lusitania was worth $735,000.
As a great transatlantic liner, the Lusitania was a product of the race
for speed, which was carried on for years among larger steamship
companies, particularly of England and Germany. When the Lusitania was
launched, it was the wonder of the maritime world. Its mastery of the
sea, from the standpoint of speed, was undisputed.
Progress of the Lusitania on its first voyage to New York, September 7,
1907, was watched by the world. The vessel made the voyage in five days
and fifty-four minutes, at that time a record. Its fastest trip, made on
the western voyage, was four days eleven hours forty-two minutes. This
record, however, was wrested from it subsequently by the Mauretania, a
sister ship, which set the mark of four days ten hours forty-one
minutes, that still stands.
Although the Lusitania was surpassed in size by several other liners
built subsequently, it never lost the reputation acquired at the outset
of its career. Its speed and luxurious accommodations made it a
favorite, and its passenger lists bore the names of many of the most
prominent Atlantic wayfarers. The vessel was pronounced by its builders
to be as nearly unsinkable as any ship could be.
Everything about the Lusitania was of colossal dimensions.
Her rudder weighed sixty-five tons. She carried three anchors of ten
tons each. The main frames and beams, placed end to end, would extend
thirty miles. The Lusitania was 785 feet long, 88 feet beam, and 60 feet
deep. Her gross tonnage was 32,500 and her net tonnage, 9,145.
Charges were made that one or more guardian submarines deliberately
drove off ships nearby which might have saved hundreds of lives lost
when the Lusitania went down. Captain W. F. Wood, of the Leyland Line
steamer Etonian, said his ship was prevented from going to the rescue of
the passengers of the sinking Lusitania by a warning that an attack
might be made upon his own vessel.
The Etonian left Liverpool, May 6th. When Captain Wood was forty-two
miles from Kinsale he received a wireless call from the Lusitania for
immediate assistance.
The call was also picked up by the steamers City of Exeter and
Narragansett. The Narragansett, Captain Wood said, was made a target for
submarine attack, a torpedo missing her by a few feet, and her commander
then warned Captain Wood not to attempt to reach the Lusitania.
"It was two o'clock in the afternoon, May 7th, that we received the
wireless S O S," said Captain Wood. "I was then forty-two miles distant
from the position he gave me. The Narragansett and the City of Exeter
were nearer the Lusitania and she answered the SOS.
"At five o'clock I observed the City of Exeter cross our bows and she
signaled, 'Have you heard anything of the disaster?'
"At that moment I saw a periscope of a submarine between the Tonina and
the City of Exeter, about a quarter of a mile directly ahead of us. She
dived as soon as she saw us.
"I signaled to the engine room for every available inch of speed. Then
we saw the submarine come up astern of us. I now ordered full speed
ahead and we left the submarine behind. The periscope remained in sight
about twenty minutes.
"No sooner had we lost sight of the submarine astern, than another
appeared on the starboard bow. This one was directly ahead and on the
surface, not submerged.
"I starboarded hard away from him, he swinging as we did. About eight
minutes later he submerged. I continued at top speed for four hours and
saw no more of the submarines. It was the ship's speed that saved her,
that's all.
"The Narragansett, as soon as she heard the S O S call, went to the
assistance of the Lusitania. One of the submarines discharged a torpedo
at her and missed her by not more than eight feet. The Narragansett then
warned us not to attempt to go to the rescue, and I got her wireless
call while I was dodging the two submarines. You can see that three
ships would have gone to the assistance of the Lusitania had they not
been attacked by the two submarines."
The German Government defended the brutal destruction of non-combatants
by the false assertions that the Lusitania was an armed vessel and that
it was carrying a great store of munitions. Both of these accusations
were proved to be mere fabrications. The Lusitania was absolutely
unarmed and the nearest approach to munitions was a consignment of 1,250
empty shell cases and 4,200 cases of cartridges for small arms.
Intense indignation swept over the neutral world, the tide rising
highest in America. It well may be said that the destruction of the
Lusitania was one of the greatest factors in driving America into the
war with Germany.
Concerning the charge that the Lusitania carried munitions, Dudley Field
Malone, Collector of the port of New York, testified that he made
personal and close inspection of the ship's cargo and saw that it
carried no guns and that there were no munitions in its cargo.
His statement follows:
"This report is not correct. The Lusitania was inspected before sailing,
as is customary. No guns were found, mounted or unmounted, and the
vessel sailed without any armament. No merchant ship would be allowed to
arm in this port and leave the harbor."
Captain W. T. Turner, of the Lusitania, testifying before the coroner's
inquest at Kinsale, Ireland, was interrogated as follows:
"You were aware threats had been made that the ship would be torpedoed?"
"We were," the Captain replied.
"Was she armed?"
"No, sir."
"What precautions did you take?"
"We had all the boats swung when we came within the danger zone, between
the passing of Fastnet and the time of the accident."
The coroner asked him whether he had received a message concerning the
sinking of a ship off Kinsale by a submarine. Captain Turner replied
that he had not.
"Did you receive any special instructions as to the voyage?"
"Yes, sir."
"Are you at liberty to tell us what they were?"
"No, sir."
"Did you carry them out?"
"Yes, to the best of my ability."
"Tell us in your own words what happened after passing Fastnet."
"The weather was clear," Captain Turner answered. "We were going at a
speed of eighteen knots. I was on the port side and heard Second Officer
Hefford call out:
"'Here's a torpedo!'
"I ran to the other side and saw clearly the wake of a torpedo. Smoke
and steam came up between the last two funnels. There was a slight
shock. Immediately after the first explosion there was another report,
but that may possibly have been internal.
"I at once gave the order to lower the boats down to the rails, and I
directed that women and children should get into them. I also had all
the bulkheads closed.
"Between the time of passing Fastnet, about 11 o'clock, and of the
torpedoing I saw no sign whatever of any submarines. There was some haze
along the Irish coast, and when we were near Fastnet I slowed down to
fifteen knots. I was in wireless communication with shore all the way
across."
Captain Turner was asked whether he had received any message in regard
to the presence of submarines off the Irish coast. He replied in the
affirmative. Questioned regarding the nature of the message, he replied:
"I respectfully refer you to the admiralty for an answer." "I also gave
orders to stop the ship," Captain Turner continued, "but we could not
stop. We found that the engines were out of commission. It was not safe
to lower boats until the speed was off the vessel. As a matter of fact,
there was a perceptible headway on her up to the time she went down.
"When she was struck she listed to starboard. I stood on the bridge when
she sank, and the Lusitania went down under me. She floated about
eighteen minutes after the torpedo struck her. My watch stopped at 2.36.
I was picked up from among the wreckage and afterward was brought aboard
a trawler.
"No warship was convoying us. I saw no warship, and none was reported to
me as having been seen. At the time I was picked up I noticed bodies
floating on the surface, but saw no living persons."
"Eighteen knots was not the normal speed of the Lusitania, was it?"
"At ordinary times," answered Captain Turner, "she could make
twenty-five knots, but in war times her speed was reduced to twenty-one
knots. My reason for going eighteen knots was that I wanted to arrive at
Liverpool bar without stopping, and within two or three hours of high
water."
"Was there a lookout kept for submarines, having regard to previous
warnings?"
"Yes, we had double lookouts."
"Were you going a zigzag course at the moment the torpedoing took
place?"
"No. It was bright weather, and land was clearly visible."
"Was it possible for a submarine to approach without being seen?"
"Oh, yes; quite possible."
"Something has been said regarding the impossibility of launching the
boats on the port side?"
"Yes," said Captain Turner, "owing to the listing of the ship."
"How many boats were launched safely?"
"I cannot say."
"Were any launched safely?"
"Yes, and one or two on the port side."
"Were your orders promptly carried out?"
"Yes."
"Was there any panic on board?"
"No, there was no panic at all. It was almost calm."
"How many persons were on board?"
"There were 1,500 passengers and about 600 crew."
By the Foreman of the Jury--"In the face of the warnings at New York
that the Lusitania would be torpedoed, did you make any application to
the admiralty for an escort?"
"No, I left that to them. It is their business, not mine. I simply had
to carry out my orders to go, and I would do it again."
Captain Turner uttered the last words of this reply with great emphasis.
By the Coroner--"I am glad to hear you say so, Captain."
By the Juryman--"Did you get a wireless to steer your vessel in a
northern direction?"
"No," replied Captain Turner.
"Was the course of the vessel altered after the torpedoes struck her?"
"I headed straight for land, but it was useless. Previous to this the
watertight bulkheads were closed. I suppose the explosion forced them
open. I don't know the exact extent to which the Lusitania was damaged."
"There must have been serious damage done to the water-tight bulkheads?"
"There certainly was, without doubt."
"Were the passengers supplied with lifebelts?"
"Yes."
"Were any special orders given that morning that lifebelts be put on?"
"No."
"Was any warning given before you were torpedoed?"
"None whatever. It was suddenly done and finished."
"If there had been a patrol boat about, might it have been of
assistance?"
"It might, but it is one of those things one never knows."
With regard to the threats against his ship, Captain Turner said he saw
nothing except what appeared in the New York papers the day before the
Lusitania sailed. He had never heard the passengers talking about the
threats, he said.
"Was a warning given to the lower decks after the ship had been struck?"
Captain Turner was asked.
"All the passengers must have heard the explosion," Captain Turner
replied.
Captain Turner, in answer to another question, said he received no
report from the lookout before the torpedo struck the Lusitania.
Ship's Bugler Livermore testified that the watertight compartments were
closed, but that the explosion and the force of the water must have
burst them open. He said that all the officers were at their posts and
that earlier arrivals of the rescue craft would not have saved the
situation.
After physicians had testified that the victims had met death through
prolonged immersion and exhaustion the coroner summed up the case.
He said that the first torpedo fired by the German submarine did serious
damage to the Lusitania, but that, not satisfied with this, the Germans
had discharged another torpedo. The second torpedo, he said, must have
been more deadly, because it went right through the ship, hastening the
work of destruction.
The characteristic courage of the Irish and British people was
manifested at the time of this terrible disaster, the coroner continued,
and there was no panic. He charged that the responsibility "lay on the
German Government and the whole people of Germany, who collaborated in
the terrible crime."
"I propose to ask the jury," he continued, "to return the only verdict
possible for a self-respecting jury, that the men in charge of the
German submarine were guilty of wilful murder."
The jury then retired and after due deliberation prepared this verdict:
We find that the deceased met death from prolonged immersion and
exhaustion in the sea eight miles south-southeast of Old Head of
Kinsale, Friday, May 7, 1915, owing to the sinking of the Lusitania by
torpedoes fired by a German submarine.
We find that the appalling crime was committed contrary to international
law and the conventions of all civilized nations.
We also charge the officers of said submarine and the Emperor and the
Government of Germany, under whose orders they acted, with the crime of
wholesale murder before the tribunal of the civilized world.
We desire to express sincere condolences and sympathy with the relatives
of the deceased, the Cunard Company, and the United States, many of
whose citizens perished in this murderous attack on an unarmed liner.
President Wilson's note to Germany, written consequent on the torpedoing
of the Lusitania, was dated six days later, showing that time for
careful deliberation was duly taken. The President's Secretary, Joseph
P. Tumulty, on May 8th, the day following the tragedy, made this
statement:
Of course the President feels the distress and the gravity of the
situation to the utmost, and is considering very earnestly but very
calmly, the right course of action to pursue. He knows that the people
of the country wish and expect him to act with deliberation as well as
with firmness.
Although signed by Mr. Bryan, as Secretary of State, the note was
written by the President in shorthand--a favorite method of Mr. Wilson
in making memoranda--and transcribed by him on his own typewriter. The
document was presented to the members of the President's Cabinet, a
draft of it was sent to Counselor Lansing of the State Department, and
after a few minor changes, it was transmitted by cable to Ambassador
Gerard in Berlin.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASHINGTON, MAY 13, 1915.
The Secretary of State to the American Ambassador at Berlin:
Please call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and after reading to him
this communication leave with him a copy.
In view of recent acts of the German authorities in violation of
American rights on the high seas, which culminated in the torpedoing and
sinking of the British steamship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, by which over
100 American citizens lost their lives, it is clearly wise and desirable
that the Government of the United States and the Imperial German
Government should come to a clear and full understanding as to the grave
situation which has resulted.
The sinking of the British passenger steamer Falaba by a German
submarine on March 28th, through which Leon C. Thrasher, an American
citizen, was drowned; the attack on April 28th, on the American vessel
Cushing by a German aeroplane; the torpedoing on May 1st of the American
vessel Gulflight by a German submarine, as a result of which two or more
American citizens met their death; and, finally, the torpedoing and
sinking of the steamship Lusitania, constitute a series of events which
the Government of the United States has observed with growing concern,
distress, and amazement.
Recalling the humane and enlightened attitude hitherto assumed by the
Imperial German Government in matters of international right, and
particularly with regard to the freedom of the seas; having learned to
recognize the German views and the German influence in the field of
international obligation as always engaged upon the side of justice and
humanity; and having understood the instructions of the Imperial German
Government to its naval commanders to be upon the same plane of humane
action prescribed by the naval codes of the other nations, the
Government of the United States was loath to believe--it cannot now
bring itself to believe--that these acts, so absolutely contrary to the
rules, the practices, and the spirit of modern warfare, could have the
countenance, or sanction of that great government. It feels it to be its
duty, therefore, to address the Imperial German Government concerning
them with the utmost frankness and in the earnest hope that it is not
mistaken in expecting action on the part of the Imperial German
Government, which will correct the unfortunate impressions which have
been created, and vindicate once more the position of that government
with regard to the sacred freedom of the seas.
The Government of the United States has been apprised that the Imperial
German Government considered themselves to be obliged by the
extraordinary circumstances of the present war and the measure adopted
by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany off from all commerce, to
adopt methods of retaliation which go much beyond the ordinary methods
of warfare at sea, in the proclamation of a war zone from which they
have warned neutral ships to keep away. This government has already
taken occasion to inform the Imperial German Government that it cannot
admit the adoption of such measures or such a warning of danger to
operate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights of American
shipmasters or of American citizens bound on lawful errands as
passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nationality, and that it
must hold the Imperial German Government to a strict accountability for
any infringement of those rights, intentional or incidental. It does not
understand the Imperial German Government to question these rights. It
assumes, on the contrary, that the Imperial Government accept, as of
course, the rule that the lives of noncombatants, whether they be of
neutral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations at war, cannot
lawfully or rightfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruction
of an unarmed merchantman, and recognize also, as all other nations do,
the obligation to take the usual precaution of visit and search to
ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in fact of belligerent
nationality or is in fact carrying contraband of war under a neutral
flag.
[Illustration: Photograph]
Copyright Underwood and Underwood. N. Y.
THE LUSITANIA
The sinking of this great liner by a German submarine, with the loss
of more than a thousand lives, caused a thrill of horror throughout
all neutral nations and crystallized public opinion in the United
States into a fierce resentment of German barbarism which indirectly
led to the entry into the World War.
[Illustration]
SUBMARINE HUNTING
A small naval dirigible used for scouting by the British Navy. Under
the cigar-shaped balloon is swung an airplane chassis equipped with
powerful motors and steering apparatus, together with a light gun.
The Government of the United States, therefore, desires to call the
attention of the Imperial German Government with the utmost earnestness
to the fact that the objection to their present method of attack against
the trade of their enemies lies in the practical impossibility of
employing submarines in the destruction of commerce without disregarding
those rules of fairness, reason, justice, and humanity which all modern
opinion regards as imperative. It is practically impossible for the
officers of a submarine to visit a merchantman at sea and examine her
papers and cargo. It is practically impossible for them to make a prize
of her; and, if they cannot put a prize crew on board of her, they
cannot sink her without leaving her crew and all on board of her to the
mercy of the sea in her small boats. These facts, it is understood, the
Imperial German Government frankly admit. We are informed that in the
instances of which we have spoken time enough for even that poor measure
of safety was not given, and in at least two of the cases cited not so
much as a warning was received. Manifestly, submarines cannot be used
against merchantmen, as the last few weeks have shown, without an
inevitable violation of many sacred principles of justice and humanity.
American citizens act within their indisputable rights in taking their
ships and in traveling wherever their legitimate business calls them
upon the high seas, and exercise those rights in what should be the
well-justified confidence that their lives will not be endangered by
acts done in clear violation of universally acknowledged international
obligations, and certainly in the confidence that their own government
will sustain them in the exercise of their rights.
There was recently published in the newspapers of the United States, I
regret to inform the Imperial German Government, a formal warning,
purporting to come from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington,
addressed to the people of the United States, and stating, in effect,
that any citizen of the United States who exercised his right of free
travel upon the seas would do so at his peril if his journey should take
him within the zone of waters within which the Imperial German Navy was
using submarines against the commerce of Great Britain and France,
notwithstanding the respectful but very earnest protest of the
Government of the United States. I do not refer to this for the purpose
of calling the attention of the Imperial German Government at this time
to the surprising irregularity of a communication from the Imperial
German Embassy at Washington addressed to the people of the United
States through the newspapers, but only for the purpose of pointing out
that no warning that an unlawful and inhumane act will be committed can
possibly be accepted as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an
abatement of the responsibility for its commission.
Long acquainted as this government has been with the character of the
Imperial Government, and with the high principles of equity by which
they have in the past been actuated and guided, the Government of the
United States cannot believe that the commanders of the vessels which
committed these acts of lawlessness did so except under a
misapprehension of the orders issued by the Imperial German naval
authorities. It takes for granted that, at least within the practical
possibilities of every such case, the commanders even of submarines were
expected to do nothing that would involve the lives of noncombatants or
the safety of neutral ships, even at the cost of failing of their object
of capture or destruction. It confidently expects, therefore, that the
Imperial German Government will disavow the acts of which the Government
of the United States complains; that they will make reparation so far as
reparation is possible for injuries which are without measure, and that
they will take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of anything so
obviously subversive of the principles of warfare for which the Imperial
German Government have in the past so wisely and so firmly contended.
The government and people of the United States look to the Imperial
German Government for just, prompt, and enlightened action in this vital
matter with the greater confidence, because the United States and
Germany are bound together not only by ties of friendship, but also by
the explicit stipulations of the Treaty of 1828, between the United
States and the Kingdom of Prussia.
Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case of the
destruction of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may satisfy
international obligations, if no loss of life results, cannot justify or
excuse a practice the natural and necessary effect of which is to
subject neutral nations and neutral persons to new and immeasurable
risks.
The Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of the
United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the performance
of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and
its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment.
BRYAN.
Ex-President Roosevelt, after learning details of the sinking of the
Lusitania, made these statements:
"This represents not merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster scale of
murder than old-time pirate ever practiced. This is the warfare which
destroyed Louvain and Dinant and hundreds of men, women and children in
Belgium. It is a warfare against innocent men, women, and children
traveling on the ocean, and our own fellowcountrymen and countrywomen,
who were among the sufferers.
"It seems inconceivable that we can refrain from taking action in this
matter, for we owe it not only to humanity, but to our own national
self-respect."
Former President Taft made this statement:
"I do not wish to embarrass the President of the Administration by a
discussion of the subject at this stage of the information, except to
express confidence that the President will follow a wise and patriotic
course. We must bear in mind that if we have a war it is the people, the
men and women, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, who must pay
with lives and money the cost of it, and therefore they should not be
hurried into the sacrifices until it is made clear that they wish it and
know what they are doing when they wish it.
"I agree that the inhumanity of the circumstances in the case now
presses us on, but in the heat of even just indignation is this the best
time to act, when action involves such momentous consequences and means
untold loss of life and treasure? There are things worse than war, but
delay, due to calm deliberation, cannot change the situation or minimize
the effect of what we finally conclude to do.
"With the present condition of the war in Europe, our action, if it is
to be extreme, will not lose efficiency by giving time to the people,
whose war it will be, to know what they are facing.
"A demand for war that cannot survive the passion of the first days of
public indignation and will not endure the test of delay and
deliberation by all the people is not one that should be yielded to."
President Wilson was criticised later by many persons for not insisting
upon a declaration of war immediately after the sinking of the
Lusitania. Undoubtedly the advice of former President Taft and of others
high in statesmanship, prevailed with the President. This in substance
was that America should prepare resolutely and thoroughly, giving
Germany in the meantime no excuse for charges that America's entrance
into the conflict was for aggression or for selfish purposes.
It was seen even as early as the sinking of the Lusitania that Germany's
only hope for final success lay in the submarine. It was reasoned that
unrestricted submarine warfare against the shipping of the world, so far
as tended toward the provisioning and munitioning of the Allies, would
be the inevitable outcome. It was further seen that when that
declaration would be made by Germany, America's decision for war must be
made. The President and his Cabinet thereupon made all their plans
looking toward that eventuality.
The resignation of Mr. Bryan from the Cabinet was followed by the
appointment of Robert Lansing as Secretary of State. It was recognized
on both sides of the Atlantic that President Wilson in all essential
matters affecting the war was active in the preparation of all state
papers and in the direction of that department. Another Cabinet vacancy
was created when Lindley M. Garrison, of New Jersey, resigned the
portfolio of Secretary of War because of a clash upon his militant views
for preparedness. Newton D. Baker, of Cleveland, Ohio, a close friend
and supporter of President Wilson, was appointed in his stead.
CHAPTER XVII
NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR IN BLOOD-SOAKED TRENCHES
After the immortal stand of Joffre at the first battle of the Marne and
the sudden savage thrust at the German center which sent von Kluck and
his men reeling back in retreat to the prepared defenses along the line
of the Aisne, the war in the western theater resolved itself into a play
for position from deep intrenchments. Occasionally would come a sudden
big push by one side or the other in which artillery was massed until
hub touched hub and infantry swept to glory and death in waves of gray,
or blue or khaki as the case might be. But these tremendous efforts and
consequent slaughters did not change the long battle line from the Alps
to the North Sea materially. Here and there a bulge would be made by the
terrific pressure of men and material in some great assault like that
first push of the British at Neuve Chapelle, like the German attack at
Verdun or like the tremendous efforts by both sides on that bloodiest of
all battlefields, the Somme.
Neuve Chapelle deserves particular mention as the test in which the
British soldiers demonstrated their might in equal contest against the
enemy. There had been a disposition in England as elsewhere up to that
time to rate the Germans as supermen, to exalt the potency of the
scientific equipment with which the German army had taken the field.
When the battle of Neuve Chapelle had been fought, although its losses
were heavy, there was no longer any doubt in the British nation that
victory was only a question of time.
The action came as a pendant to the attack by General de Langle de
Cary's French army during February, 1915, at Perthes, that had been a
steady relentless pressure by artillery and infantry upon a strong
German position. To meet it heavy reinforcements had been shifted by the
Germans from the trenches between La Bassee and Lille. The earthworks at
Neuve Chapelle had been particularly depleted and only a comparatively
small body of Saxons and Bavarians defended them. Opposite this body was
the first British army. The German intrenchments at Neuve Chapelle
surrounded and defended the highlands upon which were placed the German
batteries and in their turn defended the road towards Lille, Roubaix and
Turcoing.
The task assigned to Sir John French was to make an assault with only
forty-eight thousand men on a comparatively narrow front. There was only
one practicable method for effective preparation, and this was chosen by
the British general. An artillery concentration absolutely unprecedented
up to that time was employed by him. Field pieces firing at point-blank
range were used to cut the barbed wire entanglements defending the enemy
intrenchments, while howitzers and bombing airplanes were used to drop
high explosives into the defenseless earthworks.
Sir Douglas Haig, later to become the commander-in-chief of the British
forces, was in command of the first army. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien
commanded the second army. It was the first army that bore the brunt of
the attack.
No engagement during the years on the western front was more sudden and
surprising in its onset than that drive of the British against Neuve
Chapelle. At seven o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, March 10, 1915,
the British artillery was lazily engaged in lobbing over a desultory
shell fire upon the German trenches. It was the usual breakfast
appetizer, and nobody on the German side took any unusual notice of it.
Really, however, the shelling was scientific "bracketing" of the enemy's
important position. The gunners were making sure of their ranges.
At 7.30 range finding ended, and with a roar that shook the earth the
most destructive and withering artillery action of the war up to that
time was on. Field pieces sending their shells hurtling only a few feet
above the earth tore the wire emplacements of the enemy to pieces and
made kindling wood of the supports. Howitzers sent high explosive
shells, containing lyddite, of 15-inch, 9.2-inch and 6-inch caliber into
the doomed trenches and later into the ruined village. It was eight
o'clock in the morning, one-half hour after the beginning of the
artillery action, that the village was bombarded. During this time
British soldiers were enabled to walk about in No Man's Land behind the
curtain of fire with absolute immunity. No German rifleman or machine
gunner left cover. The scene on the German side of the line was like
that upon the blasted surface of the moon, pock-marked with shell holes,
and with no trace of human life to be seen above ground.
[Illustration: Map: Neuve Chapelle and surroundings.]
THE BATTLE GROUND OF NEUVE CHAPELLE
An eye witness describing the scene said:
"The dawn, which broke reluctantly through a veil of clouds on the
morning of Wednesday, March 10, 1915, seemed as any other to the Germans
behind the white and blue sandbags in their long line of trenches
curving in a hemicycle about the battered village of Neuve Chapelle. For
five months they had remained undisputed masters of the positions they
had here wrested from the British in October. Ensconced in their
comfortably-arranged trenches with but a thin outpost in their fire
trenches, they had watched day succeed day and night succeed night
without the least variation from the monotony of trench warfare, the
intermittent bark of the machine guns--rat-tat-tat-tat-tat--and the
perpetual rattle of rifle fire, with here and there a bomb, and now and
then an exploded mine.
"For weeks past the German airmen had grown strangely shy. On this
Wednesday morning none were aloft to spy out the strange doings which,
as dawn broke, might have been descried on the desolate roads behind the
British lines.
"From ten o'clock of the preceding evening endless files of men marched
silently down the roads leading towards the German positions through
Laventie and Richebourg St. Vaast, poor shattered villages of the dead
where months of incessant bombardment have driven away the last
inhabitants and left roofless houses and rent roadways....
"Two days before, a quiet room, where Nelson's Prayer stands on the
mantel-shelf, saw the ripening of the plans that sent these sturdy sons
of Britain's four kingdoms marching all through the night. Sir John
French met the army corps commanders and unfolded to them his plans for
the offensive of the British army against the German line at Neuve
Chapelle.
"The onslaught was to be a surprise. That was its essence. The Germans
were to be battered with artillery, then rushed before they recovered
their wits. We had thirty-six clear hours before us. Thus long, it was
reckoned (with complete accuracy as afterwards appeared), must elapse
before the Germans, whose line before us had been weakened, could rush
up reinforcements. To ensure the enemy's being pinned down right and
left of the 'great push,' an attack was to be delivered north and south
of the main thrust simultaneously with the assault on Neuve Chapelle."
[Illustration: Map bounded by Armentieres on the North, Lille on the
East, Estaires on the West and Carvin on the South.]
MAP OF THE BATTLE FRONT BETWEEN ARMENTIERES AND LA BASSEE
On the left, half way up the map, may be seen Neuve Chapelle; a little
to the right of it is Aubers, where some of the sternest fighting
occurred.
After describing the impatience of the British soldiers as they awaited
the signal to open the attack, and the actual beginning of the
engagement, the narrator continues:
"Then hell broke loose. With a mighty, hideous, screeching burst of
noise, hundreds of guns spoke. The men in the front trenches were
deafened by the sharp reports of the field-guns spitting out their
shells at close range to cut through the Germans' barbed wire
entanglements. In some cases the trajectory of these vicious missiles
was so flat that they passed only a few feet above the British trenches.
"The din was continuous. An officer who had the curious idea of putting
his ear to the ground said it was as though the earth were being smitten
great blows with a Titan's hammer. After the first few shells had
plunged screaming amid clouds of earth and dust into the German
trenches, a dense pall of smoke hung over the German lines. The
sickening fumes of lyddite blew back into the British trenches. In some
places the troops were smothered in earth and dust or even spattered
with blood from the hideous fragments of human bodies that went hurtling
through the air. At one point the upper half of a German officer, his
cap crammed on his head, was blown into one of our trenches.
"Words will never convey any adequate idea of the horror of those five
and thirty minutes. When the hands of officers' watches pointed to five
minutes past eight, whistles resounded along the British lines. At the
same moment the shells began to burst farther ahead, for, by previous
arrangement, the gunners, lengthening their fuses, were 'lifting' on to
the village of Neuve Chapelle so as to leave the road open for our
infantry to rush in and finish what the guns had begun.
"The shells were now falling thick among the houses of Neuve Chapelle, a
confused mass of buildings seen reddish through the pillars of smoke and
flying earth and dust. At the sound of the whistle--alas for the bugle,
once the herald of victory, now banished from the fray!--our men
scrambled out of the trenches and hurried higgledy-piggledy into the
open. Their officers were in front. Many, wearing overcoats and carrying
rifles with fixed bayonets, closely resembled their men.
"It was from the center of our attacking line that the assault was
pressed home soonest. The guns had done their work well. The trenches
were blown to irrecognizable pits dotted with dead. The barbed wire had
been cut like so much twine. Starting from the Rue Tilleloy the Lincolns
and the Berkshires were off the mark first, with orders to swerve to
right and left respectively as soon as they had captured the first line
of trenches, in order to let the Royal Irish Rifles and the Rifle
Brigade through to the village. The Germans left alive in the trenches,
half demented with fright, surrounded by a welter of dead and dying men,
mostly surrendered. The Berkshires were opposed with the utmost
gallantry by two German officers who had remained alone in a trench
serving a machine gun. But the lads from Berkshire made their way into
that trench and bayoneted the Germans where they stood, fighting to the
last. The Lincolns, against desperate resistance, eventually occupied
their section of the trench and then waited for the Irishmen and the
Rifle Brigade to come and take the village ahead of them. Meanwhile the
second Thirty-ninth Garhwalis on the right had taken their trenches with
a rush and were away towards the village and the Biez Wood.
"Things had moved so fast that by the time the troops were ready to
advance against the village the artillery had not finished its work. So,
while the Lincolns and the Berks assembled the prisoners who were
trooping out of the trenches in all directions, the infantry on whom
devolved the honor of capturing the village, waited. One saw them
standing out in the open, laughing and cracking jokes amid the terrific
din made by the huge howitzer shells screeching overhead and bursting in
the village, the rattle of machine guns all along the line, and the
popping of rifles. Over to the right where the Garhwalis had been
working with the bayonet, men were shouting hoarsely and wounded were
groaning as the stretcher-bearers, all heedless of bullets, moved
swiftly to and fro over the shell-torn ground.
"There was bloody work in the village of Neuve Chapelle. The capture of
a place at the bayonet point is generally a grim business, in which
instant, unconditional surrender is the only means by which bloodshed, a
deal of bloodshed, can be prevented. If there is individual resistance
here and there the attacking troops cannot discriminate. They must go
through, slaying as they go such as oppose them (the Germans have a
monopoly of the finishing-off of wounded men), otherwise the enemy's
resistance would not be broken, and the assailants would be sniped and
enfiladed from hastily prepared strongholds at half a dozen different
points.
"The village was a sight that the men say they will never forget. It
looked as if an earthquake had struck it. The published photographs do
not give any idea of the indescribable mass of ruins to which our guns
reduced it. The chaos is so utter that the very line of the streets is
all but obliterated.
"It was indeed a scene of desolation into which the Rifle Brigade--the
first regiment to enter the village, I believe--raced headlong. Of the
church only the bare shell remained, the interior lost to view beneath a
gigantic mound of debris. The little churchyard was devastated, the very
dead plucked from their graves, broken coffins and ancient bones
scattered about amid the fresher dead, the slain of that morning--
gray-green forms asprawl athwart the tombs. Of all that once fair
village but two things remained intact--two great crucifixes reared
aloft, one in the churchyard, the other over against the chateau. From
the cross, that is the emblem of our faith, the figure of Christ, yet
intact though all pitted with bullet marks, looked down in mute agony on
the slain in the village.
"The din and confusion were indescribable. Through the thick pall of
shell smoke Germans were seen on all sides, some emerging half dazed
from cellars and dugouts, their hands above their heads, others dodging
round the shattered houses, others firing from the windows, from behind
carts, even from behind the overturned tombstones. Machine guns were
firing from the houses on the outskirts, rapping out their
nerve-racking note above the noise of the rifles.
"Just outside the village there was a scene of tremendous enthusiasm.
The Rifle Brigade, smeared with dust and blood, fell in with the Third
Gurkhas with whom they had been brigaded in India. The little brown men
were dirty but radiant. Kukri in hand they had very thoroughly gone
through some houses at the cross-roads on the Rue du Bois and silenced a
party of Germans who were making themselves a nuisance there with some
machine guns. Riflemen and Gurkhas cheered themselves hoarse."
[Illustration: Map: Bapaume on the North, Albert on the West, Rosieres and
Chaulnes on the South and Peronne on the East.]
SCENE OF THE BLOODY BATTLES OF THE SOMME
The tide of war swept over this terrain with terrific violence.
Peronne was taken by the British in their great offensives of 1916-17;
in the last desperate effort of the Germans in 1918 they plunged
through Peronne advancing 35 miles, only to be hurled back with awful
losses by Marshal Foch. The town of Albert was taken and retaken
several times.
Unfortunately for the complete success of the brilliant attack a great
delay was caused by the failure of the artillery that was to have
cleared the barbed wire entanglements for the Twenty-third Brigade, and
because of the unlooked for destruction of the British field telephone
system by shell and rifle fire. The check of the Twenty-third Brigade
banked other commands back of it, and the Twenty-fifth Brigade was
obliged to fight at right angles to the line of battle. The Germans
quickly rallied at these points, and took a terrific toll in British
lives. Particularly was this true at three specially strong German
positions. One called Port Arthur by the British, another at Pietre Mill
and the third was the fortified bridge over Des Layes Creek.
Because of the lack of telephone communication it was impossible to send
reinforcements to the troops that had been held up by barbed wire and
other emplacements and upon which German machine guns were pouring a
steady stream of death.
As the Twenty-third Brigade had been held up by unbroken barbed wire
northwest of Neuve Chapelle, so the Seventh Division of the Fourth Corps
was also checked in its action against the ridge of Aubers on the left
of Neuve Chapelle. Under the plan of Sir Douglas Haig the Seventh
Division was to have waited until the Eighth Division had reached Neuve
Chapelle, when it was to charge through Aubers. With the tragic mistake
that cost the Twenty-third Brigade so dearly, the plan affecting the
Seventh Division went awry. The German artillery, observing the
concentration of the Seventh Division opposite Aubers, opened a vigorous
fire upon that front. During the afternoon General Haig ordered a charge
upon the German positions. The advance was made in short rushes in the
face of a fire that seemed to blaze from an inferno. Inch by inch the
ground was drenched with British blood. At 5.30 in the afternoon the men
dug themselves in under the relentless German fire. Further advance
became impossible.
The night was one of horror. Every minute the men were under heavy
bombardment. At dawn on March 11th the dauntless British infantry rushed
from the trenches in an effort to carry Aubers, but the enemy artillery
now greatly reinforced made that task an impossible one. The trenches
occupied by the British forces were consolidated and the salient made by
the push was held by the British with bulldog tenacity.
The number of men employed in the action on the British side was
forty-eight thousand. During the early surprise of the action the loss
was slight. Had the wire in front of the Twenty-third Brigade been cut
by the artillery assigned to such action, and had the telephone system
not been destroyed the success of the thrust would have been complete.
The delay of four and a half hours between the first and second phases
of the attack caused virtually all the losses sustained by the attacking
force. The total casualties were 12,811 men of the British forces. Of
these 1,751 officers and privates were taken prisoners and 10,000
officers and men were killed and wounded.
The action continued throughout Thursday, March 11th, with little change
in the general situation. The British still held Neuve Chapelle and
their intrenchments threatened Aubers. On Friday morning, March 12th,
the Crown Prince of Bavaria made a desperate attempt under cover of a
heavy fog to recapture the village. The effort was made in
characteristic German dense formations. The Westphalian and Bavarian
troops came out of Biez Wood in waves of gray-green, only to be blown to
pieces by British guns already loaded and laid on the mark. Elsewhere
the British waited until the Germans were scarcely more than fifty paces
away when they opened with deadly rapid fire before which the German
waves melted like snow before steam. It was such slaughter as the
British had experienced when held up before Aubers. Slaughter that
staggered Germany.
So ended Neuve Chapelle, a battle in which the decision rested with the
British, a victory for which a fearful price had been paid but out of
which came a confidence that was to hearten the British nation and to
put sinews of steel into the British army for the dread days to come.
The story of Neuve Chapelle was repeated in large and in miniature many
times during the deadlock of trench warfare on the western front until
victory finally came to the Allies. During those years the western
battle front lay like a wounded snake across France and Belgium. It
writhed and twisted, now this way, now that, as one side or the other
gambled with men and shells and airplanes for some brief advantage. It
bent back in a great bulge when vo 
History of the World War An Authentic Narrative of the World's Greatest War /